Can i tax deduct medical expenses

If you or your dependents have been in the hospital or had other costly medical or dental expenses, keep those receipts — they could help cut your tax bill. Here's a look at how the medical expense deduction works and how you can make the most of it. For tax returns filed in , taxpayers can deduct qualified, unreimbursed medical expenses that are more than 7.

The 7. IRS Publication has the full list, but in a nutshell here's what counts as a medical expense. Payments to doctors, dentists, surgeons, chiropractors, psychiatrists, psychologists and other medical practitioners. Addiction programs, including for quitting smoking.

Dentures, reading or prescription eyeglasses, contacts, hearing aids, crutches, wheelchairs and service animals. Transportation costs to and from medical care. You can only include the medical expenses you paid during the year.

Toothpaste, toiletries and cosmetics. Nicotine gum and patches that don't require a prescription. You'll need to take the following steps.

That can mean spending more time on tax prep, but if your standard deduction is less than your itemized deductions, you should itemize and save money anyway. If your standard deduction is more than your itemized deductions, take the standard deduction and save some time. There is no significant element of personal pleasure, recreation, or vacation in the travel away from home.

You can include lodging for a person traveling with the person receiving the medical care. Meals aren't included.

Don't include the cost of lodging while away from home for medical treatment if that treatment isn't received from a doctor in a licensed hospital or in a medical care facility related to, or the equivalent of, a licensed hospital or if that lodging isn't primarily for or essential to the medical care received.

You can include in medical expenses amounts paid for qualified long-term care services and certain amounts of premiums paid for qualified long-term care insurance contracts. Qualified long-term care services are necessary diagnostic, preventive, therapeutic, curing, treating, mitigating, rehabilitative services, and maintenance and personal care services defined later that are:.

An individual is chronically ill if, within the previous 12 months, a licensed health care practitioner has certified that the individual meets either of the following descriptions.

He or she is unable to perform at least two activities of daily living without substantial assistance from another individual for at least 90 days, due to a loss of functional capacity. Activities of daily living are eating, toileting, transferring, bathing, dressing, and continence. He or she requires substantial supervision to be protected from threats to health and safety due to severe cognitive impairment. Maintenance or personal care services is care which has as its primary purpose the providing of a chronically ill individual with needed assistance with his or her disabilities including protection from threats to health and safety due to severe cognitive impairment.

A qualified long-term care insurance contract is an insurance contract that provides only coverage of qualified long-term care services. The contract must:. Not provide for a cash surrender value or other money that can be paid, assigned, pledged, or borrowed;. Provide that refunds, other than refunds on the death of the insured or complete surrender or cancellation of the contract, and dividends under the contract must be used only to reduce future premiums or increase future benefits; and.

Generally not pay or reimburse expenses incurred for services or items that would be reimbursed under Medicare, except where Medicare is a secondary payer, or the contract makes per diem or other periodic payments without regard to expenses.

The amount of qualified long-term care premiums you can include is limited. You can include the following as medical expenses on Schedule A Form Also, if you are an eligible retired public safety officer, you can't include premiums for long-term care insurance if you elected to pay these premiums with tax-free distributions from a qualified retirement plan made directly to the insurance provider and these distributions would otherwise have been included in your income.

You can include in medical expenses the cost of meals at a hospital or similar institution if a principal reason for being there is to get medical care. You can't include in medical expenses the cost of meals that aren't part of inpatient care. You can include in medical expenses amounts paid for admission and transportation to a medical conference if the medical conference concerns the chronic illness of yourself, your spouse, or your dependent. The costs of the medical conference must be primarily for and necessary to the medical care of you, your spouse, or your dependent.

The majority of the time spent at the conference must be spent attending sessions on medical information. The cost of meals and lodging while attending the conference isn't deductible as a medical expense.

You can include in medical expenses amounts paid to a plan that keeps medical information in a computer data bank and retrieves and furnishes the information upon request to an attending physician. You can include in medical expenses amounts you pay for prescribed medicines and drugs. A prescribed drug is one that requires a prescription by a doctor for its use by an individual. You can also include amounts you pay for insulin. Except for insulin, you can't include in medical expenses amounts you pay for a drug that isn't prescribed.

You can include in medical expenses the cost of medical care in a nursing home, home for the aged, or similar institution, for yourself, your spouse, or your dependents.

This includes the cost of meals and lodging in the home if a principal reason for being there is to get medical care. Don't include the cost of meals and lodging if the reason for being in the home is personal.

You can, however, include in medical expenses the part of the cost that is for medical or nursing care. You can include in medical expenses wages and other amounts you pay for nursing services. The services need not be performed by a nurse as long as the services are of a kind generally performed by a nurse. This includes services connected with caring for the patient's condition, such as giving medication or changing dressings, as well as bathing and grooming the patient.

These services can be provided in your home or another care facility. Generally, only the amount spent for nursing services is a medical expense. If the attendant also provides personal and household services, amounts paid to the attendant must be divided between the time spent performing household and personal services and the time spent for nursing services.

However, certain maintenance or personal care services provided for qualified long-term care can be included in medical expenses. See Maintenance and personal care services under Long-Term Care , earlier.

Additionally, certain expenses for household services or for the care of a qualifying individual incurred to allow you to work may qualify for the child and dependent care credit.

You can also include in medical expenses part of the amount you pay for that attendant's meals. Divide the food expense among the household members to find the cost of the attendant's food. Then divide that cost in the same manner as in the preceding paragraph. If you had to pay additional amounts for household upkeep because of the attendant, you can include the extra amounts with your medical expenses.

This includes extra rent or utilities you pay because you moved to a larger apartment to provide space for the attendant. You can include as a medical expense social security tax, FUTA, Medicare tax, and state employment taxes you pay for an attendant who provides medical care. If the attendant also provides personal and household services, you can include as a medical expense only the amount of employment taxes paid for medical services, as explained earlier.

For information on employment tax responsibilities of household employers, see Pub. You can include in medical expenses amounts you pay for legal operations that aren't for cosmetic surgery. See Eyeglasses , earlier.

See Transplants , later. You can include in medical expenses amounts you pay for oxygen and oxygen equipment to relieve breathing problems caused by a medical condition. You can include in medical expenses the amount you pay for an annual physical examination and diagnostic tests by a physician.

You don't have to be ill at the time of the examination. You can include in medical expenses the amount you pay to purchase a pregnancy test kit to determine if you are pregnant. You can't include in medical expenses the amount of health insurance premiums paid by or through the premium tax credit. You also can't include in medical expenses any amount of advance payments of the premium tax credit made that you did not have to pay back.

However, any amount of advance payments of the premium tax credit that you did have to pay back can be included in medical expenses.

Amy is under age 65 and unmarried. You can include in medical expenses amounts you pay for psychiatric care. This includes the cost of supporting a mentally ill dependent at a specially equipped medical center where the dependent receives medical care.

See Psychoanalysis next and Transportation , later. You can include in medical expenses payments for psychoanalysis.

However, you can't include payments for psychoanalysis that is part of required training to be a psychoanalyst. You can include in medical expenses fees you pay on a doctor's recommendation for a child's tutoring by a teacher who is specially trained and qualified to work with children who have learning disabilities caused by mental or physical impairments, including nervous system disorders.

You can include in medical expenses the cost tuition, meals, and lodging of attending a school that furnishes special education to help a child to overcome learning disabilities. Overcoming the learning disabilities must be the primary reason for attending the school, and any ordinary education received must be incidental to the special education provided.

Special education includes:. You can't include in medical expenses the cost of sending a child with behavioral problems to a school where the course of study and the disciplinary methods have a beneficial effect on the child's attitude if the availability of medical care in the school isn't a principal reason for sending the student there.

You can include in medical expenses the cost of a legal sterilization a legally performed operation to make a person unable to have children. Also see Vasectomy , later. You can include in medical expenses amounts you pay for a program to stop smoking.

However, you can't include in medical expenses amounts you pay for drugs that don't require a prescription, such as nicotine gum or patches, that are designed to help stop smoking. See Operations , earlier. You can include in medical expenses the cost of special telephone equipment that lets a person who is deaf, hard of hearing, or has a speech disability communicate over a regular telephone. You can also include the cost of repairing the equipment. You can include in medical expenses the cost of equipment that displays the audio part of television programs as subtitles for persons with a hearing disability.

This may be the cost of an adapter that attaches to a regular set. It may also be the part of the cost of a specially equipped television that exceeds the cost of the same model regular television set. You can include in medical expenses amounts paid for medical care you receive because you are a donor or a possible donor of a kidney or other organ. This includes transportation. You can include any expenses you pay for the medical care of a donor in connection with the donation of an organ to you, your spouse, or dependent.

You can include in medical expenses amounts paid for transportation primarily for, and essential to, medical care. Transportation expenses of a parent who must go with a child who needs medical care;. Transportation expenses of a nurse or other person who can give injections, medications, or other treatment required by a patient who is traveling to get medical care and is unable to travel alone; and.

Transportation expenses for regular visits to see a mentally ill dependent, if these visits are recommended as a part of treatment. You can include out-of-pocket expenses, such as the cost of gas and oil, when you use a car for medical reasons. You can't include depreciation, insurance, general repair, or maintenance expenses.

If you don't want to use your actual expenses for , you can use the standard medical mileage rate of 17 cents a mile. You can also include parking fees and tolls.

You can add these fees and tolls to your medical expenses whether you use actual expenses or the standard mileage rate. In , Bill Jones drove 2, miles for medical reasons. He wants to figure the amount he can include in medical expenses both ways to see which gives him the greater deduction. He figures the actual expenses first. He then figures the standard mileage amount. You can't include in medical expenses the cost of transportation in the following situations.

Going to and from work, even if your condition requires an unusual means of transportation. Travel for purely personal reasons to another city for an operation or other medical care.

The costs of operating a specially equipped car for other than medical reasons. You can include in medical expenses amounts you pay for transportation to another city if the trip is primarily for, and essential to, receiving medical services. See Lodging , earlier. You can't include in medical expenses a trip or vacation taken merely for a change in environment, improvement of morale, or general improvement of health, even if the trip is made on the advice of a doctor.

However, see Medical Conferences , earlier. Under special circumstances, you can include charges for tuition in medical expenses. See Special Education , earlier. A lump-sum fee which includes education, board, and medical care—without distinguishing which part of the fee results from medical care—is not considered an amount payable for medical care.

However, you can include charges for a health plan included in a lump-sum tuition fee if the charges are separately stated or can easily be obtained from the school. See Eye Surgery , earlier. You can include in medical expenses amounts you pay to lose weight if it is a treatment for a specific disease diagnosed by a physician such as obesity, hypertension, or heart disease. This includes fees you pay for membership in a weight reduction group as well as fees for attendance at periodic meetings.

You can't include membership dues in a gym, health club, or spa as medical expenses, but you can include separate fees charged there for weight loss activities. You can't include the cost of diet food or beverages in medical expenses because the diet food and beverages substitute for what is normally consumed to satisfy nutritional needs.

You can include the cost of special food in medical expenses only if:. You can include in medical expenses the amounts you pay for a wheelchair used for the relief of a sickness or disability. The cost of operating and maintaining the wheelchair is also a medical expense.

You can include in medical expenses the cost of a wig purchased upon the advice of a physician for the mental health of a patient who has lost all of his or her hair from disease. Following is a list of some items that you can't include in figuring your medical expense deduction. You can't include in medical expenses amounts you pay for the care of children, even if the expenses enable you, your spouse, or your dependent to get medical or dental treatment. Also, any expense allowed as a childcare credit can't be treated as an expense paid for medical care.

You can't include in medical expenses amounts you pay for controlled substances such as marijuana, laetrile, etc. Generally, you can't include in medical expenses the amount you pay for cosmetic surgery. This includes any procedure that is directed at improving the patient's appearance and doesn't meaningfully promote the proper function of the body or prevent or treat illness or disease.

You generally can't include in medical expenses the amount you pay for procedures such as face lifts, hair transplants, hair removal electrolysis , and liposuction. You can include in medical expenses the amount you pay for cosmetic surgery if it is necessary to improve a deformity arising from, or directly related to, a congenital abnormality, a personal injury resulting from an accident or trauma, or a disfiguring disease.

An individual undergoes surgery that removes a breast as part of treatment for cancer. She pays a surgeon to reconstruct the breast. The surgery to reconstruct the breast corrects a deformity directly related to the disease. The cost of the surgery is includible in her medical expenses. You can't include in medical expenses the cost of dancing lessons, swimming lessons, etc. You can't include in medical expenses the amount you pay for diapers or diaper services, unless they are needed to relieve the effects of a particular disease.

See Cosmetic Surgery , earlier. You can't include in medical expenses amounts for which you are fully reimbursed by your flexible spending arrangement if you contribute a part of your income on a pre-tax basis to pay for the qualified benefit. This rule doesn't apply in situations where the future care is purchased in connection with obtaining lifetime care, as explained under Lifetime Care—Advance Payments , or qualified long-term care insurance contracts, as explained under Long-Term Care , earlier.

You can't include in medical expenses health club dues or amounts paid to improve one's general health or to relieve physical or mental discomfort not related to a particular medical condition. You can't include in medical expenses the cost of membership in any club organized for business, pleasure, recreation, or other social purpose. You can't include in medical expenses amounts you pay for health insurance you use in figuring your health coverage tax credit.

For more information, see the Instructions for Form For more information, see Pub. You can't include in medical expenses the cost of household help, even if such help is recommended by a doctor. This is a personal expense that isn't deductible. However, you may be able to include certain expenses paid to a person providing nursing-type services.

Also, certain maintenance or personal care services provided for qualified long-term care can be included in medical expenses. You can't include in medical expenses amounts you pay for illegal operations, treatments, or controlled substances whether rendered or prescribed by licensed or unlicensed practitioners. You can't include in medical expenses amounts you contribute to an Archer MSA. You can't include expenses you pay for with a tax-free distribution from your Archer MSA. You also can't use other funds equal to the amount of the distribution and include the expenses.

In general, you can't include in your medical expenses the cost of a prescribed drug brought in or ordered and shipped from another country. You can only include the cost of a drug that was imported legally. For example, you can include the cost of a prescribed drug the Food and Drug Administration announces can be legally imported by individuals.

You can include the cost of a prescribed drug you purchase and consume in another country if the drug is legal in both the other country and the United States. Your doctor recommends that you take aspirin. Because aspirin is a drug that doesn't require a physician's prescription for its use by an individual, you can't include its cost in your medical expenses.

You can't include in medical expenses the cost of nutritional supplements, vitamins, herbal supplements, "natural medicines," etc. These items are taken to maintain your ordinary good health and aren't for medical care. You can't include in medical expenses the cost of an item ordinarily used for personal, living, or family purposes unless it is used primarily to prevent or alleviate a physical or mental disability or illness.

For example, the cost of a toothbrush and toothpaste is a nondeductible personal expense. In order to accommodate an individual with a physical disability, you may have to purchase an item ordinarily used as a personal, living, or family item in a special form. You can include the excess of the cost of the item in a special form over the cost of the item in normal form as a medical expense. See Dancing Lessons , earlier.

You can't include in medical expenses amounts paid to whiten teeth. You can't include in medical expenses the cost of a weight-loss program if the purpose of the weight loss is the improvement of appearance, general health, or sense of well-being. You can't include amounts you pay to lose weight unless the weight loss is a treatment for a specific disease diagnosed by a physician such as obesity, hypertension, or heart disease.

If the weight-loss treatment isn't for a specific disease diagnosed by a physician, you can't include either the fees you pay for membership in a weight-reduction group or fees for attendance at periodic meetings.

Also, you can't include membership dues in a gym, health club, or spa. You can include in medical expenses only those amounts paid during the tax year for which you received no insurance or other reimbursement. You must reduce your total medical expenses for the year by all reimbursements for medical expenses that you receive from insurance or other sources during the year.

This includes payments from Medicare. Even if a policy provides reimbursement only for certain specific medical expenses, you must use amounts you receive from that policy to reduce your total medical expenses, including those it doesn't reimburse.

You have insurance policies that cover your hospital and doctors' bills but not your nursing bills. The insurance you receive for the hospital and doctors' bills is more than their charges. In figuring your medical deduction, you must reduce the total amount you spent for medical care by the total amount of insurance you received, even if the policies don't cover some of your medical expenses.

An HRA is an employer-funded plan that reimburses employees for medical care expenses and allows unused amounts to be carried forward.

An HRA is funded solely by the employer and the reimbursements for medical expenses, up to a maximum dollar amount for a coverage period, aren't included in your income. Generally, you don't reduce medical expenses by payments you receive for:. Permanent loss or loss of use of a member or function of the body loss of limb, sight, hearing, etc. You must, however, reduce your medical expenses by any part of these payments that is designated for medical costs.

For how to treat damages received for personal injury or sickness, see Damages for Personal Injuries , later. If you are reimbursed more than your medical expenses, you may have to include the excess in income.

You may want to use Figure 1 to help you decide if any of your reimbursement is taxable. Figure 1. Summary: This flowchart is used to determine if any reimbursements you receive for your medical expenses is taxable. Please click here for the text description of the image. If you pay either the entire premium for your medical insurance or all the costs of a plan similar to medical insurance and your insurance payments or other reimbursements are more than your total medical expenses for the year, you have excess reimbursement.

Generally, you don't include the excess reimbursement in your gross income. If both you and your employer contribute to your medical insurance plan and your employer's contributions aren't included in your gross income, you must include in your gross income the part of your excess reimbursement that is from your employer's contribution.

If you aren't covered by more than one policy, you can figure the amount of the excess reimbursement you must include in gross income using Worksheet B. If you are covered under more than one policy, see More than one policy , later. If your employer or your former employer pays the total cost of your medical insurance plan and your employer's contributions aren't included in your income, you must report all of your excess reimbursement as other income. If you are covered under more than one policy, the cost of at least one of which is paid by both you and your employer, you must first divide the medical expenses among the policies to figure the excess reimbursement from each policy.

Then divide the policy costs to figure the part of any excess reimbursement that is from your employer's contribution. Any excess reimbursement that is due to your employer's contributions is includible in your income.

You can figure the part of the excess reimbursement that is from your employer's contribution by using Worksheet C. Use Worksheet C only if both you and your employer paid part of the cost of at least one policy. If you had more than one policy, but you didn't share in the cost of at least one policy, don't use Worksheet C.

If you are reimbursed in a later year for medical expenses you deducted in an earlier year, you must generally report the reimbursement as income up to the amount you previously deducted as medical expenses. However, don't report as income the amount of reimbursement you received up to the amount of your medical deductions that didn't reduce your tax for the earlier year.

For more information about the recovery of an amount that you claimed as an itemized deduction in an earlier year, see Recoveries in Pub.

If you didn't deduct a medical expense in the year you paid it because your medical expenses weren't more than 7. Once you have determined which medical expenses you can include, figure and report the deduction on your tax return.

You report your medical expense deduction on Schedule A Form See the Instructions for Schedule A Form for more detailed information on figuring your medical and dental expense deduction. You should keep records of your medical and dental expenses to support your deduction.

Don't send these records with your paper return. If you deduct the cost of medical equipment or property in one year and sell it in a later year, you may have a taxable gain. The taxable gain is the amount of the selling price that is more than the adjusted basis of the equipment or property.

The adjusted basis is the portion of the cost of the equipment or property that you couldn't deduct because of the 7. Refer to your Schedule A for the year the cost was included to determine which limit applied to you. Use Worksheet D to figure the adjusted basis of the equipment or property. Next, use Worksheet E to figure the total gain or loss on the sale of the medical equipment or property.

If you have a loss, it isn't deductible. If you have a gain, it is includible in your income. The part of the gain that is a recovery of an amount you previously deducted is taxable as ordinary income. Enter it on Form or SR. Any part of the gain that is more than the recovery of an amount you previously deducted is taxable as a capital gain. If you receive an amount in settlement of a personal injury suit, part of that award may be for medical expenses that you deducted in an earlier year.

If it is, you must include that part in your income in the year you receive it to the extent it reduced your taxable income in the earlier year. You sued this year for injuries you suffered in an accident last year.

You deducted those expenses on last year's tax return. Your settlement didn't itemize or allocate the damages. If you receive an amount in settlement of a damage suit for personal injuries, part of that award may be for future medical expenses. If it is, you must reduce any future medical expenses for these injuries until the amount you received has been completely used. You were injured in an accident. If you received workers' compensation and you deducted medical expenses related to that injury, you must include the workers' compensation in income up to the amount you deducted.

If you received workers' compensation, but didn't deduct medical expenses related to that injury, don't include the workers' compensation in your income. If you are a person with disabilities, you can take a business deduction for expenses that are necessary for you to be able to work. If you take a business deduction for these impairment-related work expenses, they aren't subject to the 7.

A physical or mental disability for example, blindness or deafness that functionally limits your being employed; or. A physical or mental impairment for example, a sight or hearing impairment that substantially limits one or more of your major life activities, such as performing manual tasks, walking, speaking, breathing, learning, or working. Impairment-related expenses are those ordinary and necessary business expenses that are:. For goods and services not required or used, other than incidentally, in your personal activities; and.

If you are self-employed, deduct the business expenses on the appropriate form Schedule C, E, or F used to report your business income and expenses. If you are an employee, complete Form , Employee Business Expenses. Enter on Schedule A Form that part of the amount on Form that is related to your impairment.

You are blind. You must use a reader to do your work. You use the reader both during your regular working hours at your place of work and outside your regular working hours away from your place of work. The reader's services are only for your work.

You can deduct your expenses for the reader as business expenses. If you were self-employed and had a net profit for the year, you may be able to deduct, as an adjustment to income, amounts paid for medical and qualified long-term care insurance on behalf of yourself, your spouse, your dependents, and your children who were under age 27 at the end of The insurance plan must be established under your trade or business and the deduction can't be more than your earned income from that trade or business.

You can't deduct payments for medical insurance for any month in which you were eligible to participate in a health plan subsidized by your employer, your spouse's employer, or an employer of your dependent, or your child under age 27, at the end of You can't deduct payments for a qualified long-term care insurance contract for any month in which you were eligible to participate in a long-term care insurance plan subsidized by your employer or your spouse's employer.

But if any of the following applies, don't use that worksheet. Use Pub. When figuring the amount you can deduct for insurance premiums, don't include amounts paid for health insurance coverage with retirement plan distributions that were tax free because you are a retired public safety officer.

You take this deduction on Form or SR. If the insurance policy covers your nondependent child who was under age 27 at the end of , you can claim the premiums for that coverage on Form or SR. Generally, family health insurance premiums don't increase if coverage for an additional child is added.

If this is the situation, no allocation would be necessary. If the premiums did increase such as where coverage was expanded from single to family to add the nondependent child , you can allocate the amount on Form or SR to the nondependent child and any excess amounts not attributable to that child would be eligible to be claimed on Schedule A.

Kate is self-employed in and has self-only coverage for health insurance. She changes to family coverage only to add her year-old nondependent child to the plan. The facts are the same as in Example 1 , except that Kate had family coverage when she added her year-old nondependent child to the policy. The health coverage tax credit HCTC is a tax credit that pays The HCTC acts as partial reimbursement for premiums paid for qualified health insurance coverage.

You must elect the HCTC. Once you make the election to take the HCTC for an eligible coverage month, you can't take the premium tax credit for the same coverage in that coverage month and for all subsequent coverage months during your tax year in which you are eligible to take the HCTC.

If you have qualified health insurance that covers anyone besides yourself and your qualifying family member s , you may not be able to take into account all of your payments. You can't treat an amount as paid for insurance for yourself and qualifying family members unless all of the following requirements are met.

The charge for insurance for yourself and qualifying family members is either separately stated in the contract or furnished to you by the insurance company in a separate statement. The amount you paid for insurance for yourself and qualifying family members isn't more than the charge that is stated in the contract or furnished by the insurance company. The amount stated in the contract or furnished by the insurance company isn't unreasonably large in relation to the total charges under the contract.

Also, see the Instructions for Form If you have questions about a tax issue, need help preparing your tax return, or want to download free publications, forms, or instructions, go to IRS.

You can prepare the tax return yourself, see if you qualify for free tax preparation, or hire a tax professional to prepare your return. Free File. This program lets you prepare and file your federal individual income tax return for free using brand-name tax-preparation-and-filing software or Free File fillable forms.

However, state tax preparation may not be available through Free File. The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance VITA program offers free tax help to people with low-to-moderate incomes, persons with disabilities, and limited-English-speaking taxpayers who need help preparing their own tax returns. The Tax Counseling for the Elderly TCE program offers free tax help for all taxpayers, particularly those who are 60 years of age and older. TCE volunteers specialize in answering questions about pensions and retirement-related issues unique to seniors.

Members of the U. Also, the IRS offers Free Fillable Forms, which can be completed online and then filed electronically regardless of income. Payments for inpatient hospital care or residential nursing home care, if the availability of medical care is the principal reason for being in the nursing home, including the cost of meals and lodging charged by the hospital or nursing home.

If the availability of medical care isn't the principal reason for residence in the nursing home, the deduction is limited to that part of the cost that's for medical care. Payments for acupuncture treatments or inpatient treatment at a center for alcohol or drug addiction; or for participation in a smoking-cessation program and for drugs to alleviate nicotine withdrawal that require a prescription.

Payments to participate in a weight-loss program for a specific disease or diseases diagnosed by a physician, including obesity, but not ordinarily payments for diet food items or the payment of health club dues. Payments for insulin and for drugs that require a prescription for its use by an individual. Payments made for admission and transportation to a medical conference relating to a chronic illness of you, your spouse, or your dependent if the costs are primarily for and essential to necessary medical care.

However, you may not deduct the costs for meals and lodging while attending the medical conference. Payments for false teeth, reading or prescription eyeglasses, contact lenses, hearing aids, crutches, wheelchairs, and for a guide dog or other service animal to assist a visually impaired or hearing disabled person, or a person with other physical disabilities.

Payments for transportation primarily for and essential to medical care that qualify as medical expenses, such as payments of the actual fare for a taxi, bus, train, ambulance, or for transportation by personal car; the amount of your actual out-of-pocket expenses such as for gas and oil; or the amount of the standard mileage rate for medical expenses, plus the cost of tolls and parking.

Payments for insurance premiums you paid for policies that cover medical care or for a qualified long-term care insurance policy covering qualified long-term care services.