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If a piece of "durable" equipment that is typically deemed "medical" is required for medical reasons such as for disability (think crutches, cane, even an elevator for an aged person living in a multi-level home where a physician has provided written information that the aged person cannot climb stairs), then that equipment is deemed "durable medical equipment" (DRE).

You can include in medical expenses amounts you pay for special equipment installed in a home, or for improvements, if their main purpose is medical care for you, your spouse, or your dependent. The cost of permanent improvements that increase the value of your property may be partly included as a medical expense. The cost of the improvement is reduced by the increase in the value of your property. The difference is a medical expense. 

If the value of your property isn't increased by the improvement, the entire cost is included as a medical expense. Certain improvements made to accommodate a home to your disabled condition, or that of your spouse or your dependents who live with you, don't usually increase the value of the home and the cost can be included in full as medical expenses. These improvements include, but aren't limited to, the following items. 

• Modifying stairways. 
• Constructing entrance or exit ramps for your home. 
  
• Widening doorways at entrances or exits to your home. 
• Widening or otherwise modifying hallways and interior doorways. 
• Installing railings, support bars, or other modifications to bathrooms. 
• Lowering or modifying kitchen cabinets and equipment. 
• Moving or modifying electrical outlets and fixtures. 
• Installing porch lifts and other forms of lifts (but elevators generally add value to the house). 
• Modifying fire alarms, smoke detectors, and other warning systems. 
• Adding handrails or grab bars anywhere (whether or not in bathrooms). 
• Modifying hardware on doors. 
• Modifying areas in front of entrance and exit doorways. 
• Grading the ground to provide access to the residence. 

Only reasonable costs to accommodate a home to your disabled condition are considered medical care. Additional costs for personal motives, such as for architectural or aesthetic reasons, aren't medical expenses.