Please note that even though the Alabama medical deduction is more generous than the federal, it is still subject to a 4% floor. That is, when TurboTax brings the federal medical expenses down to Alabama (it does, I just reconfirmed it), the medical expenses must be in excess of 4% of the Alabama adjusted gross income to be deductible on the Alabama return (it's 7.5% on the federal return).
Therefore, depending on what medical expenses you entered on Schedule A of the federal return and your AGI, you still might not have a medical deduction...but this is the correct way to make this work.
"turbotax threw away my entries on the fed schedule A" - if your medical expenses do not exceed 7.5% of your federal adjusted gross income, they are not deductible on Schedule A - IRS rules, not TurboTax's.
"turbotax still refuses to allow me to enter any med expenses." I did not say that you could enter medical expenses on the Alabama return - you have to enter them on the federal return and see if - when they carry down to the state - any of the amount Is deductible.
