No. In a 1956 Tax Court case called BASSETT v. COMMISSIONER 26 T.C. 619 (1956), the U.S. Tax Court held that that the advance payment for medical services to be rendered in a subsequent year may not be considered as a medical expense in the taxable year.
Medical expenses typically cannot be deducted until services have been rendered. So in this case, your air travel would be deductible in 2021, the year the care was received.
In the case, a couple from Buffalo, New York made an advance payment to a hospital for the care of the wife’s mother. There was no discussion or special arrangements made with the hospital when the payment was made so the payment was made voluntarily and without prompting. It was the general rule and practice of the hospital to bill and collect charges for hospitalization usually for at least one week in advance, and the rules of the hospital require payment in advance.
The court found that prepaying medical expenses in advance could allow taxpayers to claim a medical deduction that they would otherwise not qualify for because your can only claim medical expenses in excess of 7.5% of your income (it was 5% back then).
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