Healthcare deductibles

ralphandfern — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 06:52:26 GMT

My husband has Alzheimer’s and is in a Memory Care institution. I pay for his care out of my pocket which is about $8500 each month. Can I deduct this as a healthcare expense on my income tax?

Re: Healthcare deductibles

Opus 17 — Wed, 16 Nov 2022 22:58:46 GMT

Maybe. This is complex.

Medical care is deductible. Care in a nursing home is fully deductible if the person is in the nursing home to receive medical care. Nursing care does not have to be provided by a nurse but it must be the kind of care a nurse usually performs, like providing medications, and assisting with toileting, bathing, and so on.

A memory care facility is different. Most memory care facilities don't provide much actual medical care, they provide companionship, assistance, protection, laundry, shelter and meals, but not much medical care. As such, the rules are more complex.

You can deduct the entire cost of a memory care facility if you meet all three of these tests:

1. The person has a long term illness that will last at least one year or foreseeably lead to death,

2. The person requires assistance with 2 or more activities of daily living (ADLs are eating, toileting, dressing, managing continence, bathing and transferring) OR the person has a cognitive impairment and requires care to prevent them being a danger to themselves or others,

3. Care is provided according to a written care plan developed by a medical professional or qualified social worker that is reviewed and updated at least annually.

Without a written care plan, you can only deduct the portion of the cost that you can allocate to actual medical and nursing care, the facility will usually provide a figure. The facility should have a social worker on staff or someone they work with who can write a care plan.

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Healthcare deductibles

Re: Healthcare deductibles