@leechipturner wrote:
Can I ask a separate question? Last year, I was dealing with severe back pain that conventional medicine in the US could not help. I went to Panama for stem cells, which made me pain-free. The cost was $25,400 which was a package (treatments, hotel, airport transfers), the airfare also cost $2389.07. Took a long time to save this money up, but it was well spent. Is any of it medically deductible?
That's tricky. The IRS says,
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p502.pdf
Illegal Operations and Treatments
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.
Medicines and Drugs From Other Countries
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.
If we assume the treatment is deductible, then you can deduct your actual travel costs (plane fare, etc.) and $50 per night for lodging.
I don't know the status of stem cell treatments. Are they approved in the US but more expensive, or are they not approved by the FDA but not technically illegal, or are they actually illegal?
(For example, PRP therapy is only FDA approved to help bone grafts heal, but doctors may use it for other conditions.)
