Cobra Payments and Medical Deductions

[BrodieBoy2020]

Hi Folks,

Okay so 2020 was pretty bad for most of us. I ended up using Cobra for most of the year at $1K per month. The insurance I was using for Cobra  through my former employer pretty well sucked being a High Deductable Plan but better than nothing. Anyway am I correct in going Medical expenses and then just adding in my out of pocket prescription costs, doctor visits and lab test costs (that weren't covered by the insurance  plan) and most importantly.. add all of my Cobra premiums paid  in the box Medical Insurance Premiums where it states How Much Did You Spend on Insurance Premiums? 

Thought I would check. Appreciate your time. 

[JeffreyR77]

You should only put your insurance premiums in the Insurance Premiums bucket.  

It is true they will all flow to the Medical expenses that will be subject to 7.5% of your Adjusted Gross Income but you are risking muddying the water by adding all your expenses with your premiums together in the premiums bucket.

[BrodieBoy2020]

Hi,

Thanks for responding. Appreciate it! Just to clarify when you pull up the medical expenses "interview" it goes step by step through prescriptions, doctor's visits and lab tests for which I paid out of.pocket as these were only partially covered by the insurance ( welcome to High Deductible Plans).

Further in the  "interview" it gets to medical premiums for which I added all my Cobra premium costs in 2020.

So is this not correct? 

Thanks again for the input!

[KrisD15 · Accepted solution]

That IS correct. All out of pocket AND premium costs you paid are medical expenses. 

The TurboTax interview will ask for items separately, more to make it clear to taxpayers what expenses can be included, but they are all medical expenses. 

If you Itemize Deductions, the amount over 7.5 of your Adjusted Gross Income will be listed on your Schedule A. 

[BrodieBoy2020]

Thanks for responding and clarifying!