topic Health care premium deduction in Deductions & credits

Health care premium deduction

sblackwell — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 09:35:23 GMT

Hi,

I am retired and have retiree health care coverage through my previous employer. I pay for the entire premium but it is not a marketplace policy. It is through Aetna. Can I itemize and deduct those monthly premiums on my 1040?

Re: Health care premium deduction

Vanessa A — Wed, 24 Jan 2024 17:33:08 GMT

Yes, you can include the amount that you pay out of pocket with after-tax dollars as part of your itemized expenses.

Itemized expenses include mortgage interest, state and local taxes up to $10,000, medical expenses in excess of 7.5% of your AGI and casualty and losses in excess of 10% of you AGI with the first $100 not counting towards the loss. Your health insurance and all medical expenses are only deductible for the amount that is over 7.5% of your AGI. This means if your AGI is $50,000, then the amount that is over $3,750 is deductible.

Then your total itemized expenses would need to be greater than your standard deduction below in order to benefit from your insurance premium payments.

The 2023 Standard Deductions are as follows:

Married Filing Joint (MFJ) $27,700
Married Filing Separate (MFS) $13,850
Head of Household (HOH) $20,800
Single $13,850

Blind and MFJ or MFS add $1,500

Single or HOH if blind add $1,850

Re: Health care premium deduction

Mike9241 — Wed, 24 Jan 2024 17:33:54 GMT

yes you take a medical expense deduction on schedule A. To be of any benfit your itemized deductions must exceed your stndaard deduction

Standard deduction 2023

MFJ & QSS $27,700 (1)

Single $13,850 (2)

HOH $20,800 (2)

MFS $13,850 (1)

(1) Add $1,500 for age 65 or blind, each

(2) add $1,850 for age 65 or blind, each