When I posted my question in 2017, I was addressing an instruction in the "itsDeductible" program which stated that a CPAP was not a deductible donation because it was a prescribed medical device. If that has been changed, that is good.
There’s no special reason a donated CPAP would not be tax deductible if the recipient is tax exempt, there never was. You may have gotten bad advice before. The problem is determining a true fair market value. A fair market value is what a willing buyer would pay for the same or similar item in similar condition. Because CPAP devices are prescription only and have a limited life, the only buyer would be the charity, or a similar organization of people who buy used machines to refurbish them for needy users, or maybe a user who wanted to buy one without a prescription.
You might ask the charity, or you might check eBay or similar web sites for used scientific and medical equipment Look for completed sales, not asking prices If audited, you would have to prove how you determined the fair market value.
The previous answer may have been given by someone who was taking into account this particular difficulty.
Normally, you cannot take a deduction for donating something that you did not pay for (since the insurance company paid instead).
That’s a good point. Anything that you acquired with tax free money has a zero cost basis, and your deduction value is the fair market value, or your cost basis, whichever is lower. Or in this case, if you paid a co-pay and insurance covered the rest, your cost basis is your co-pay.
However, in the case of personal property that will be put to a related use, you can claim the FMV even if the cost basis is lower. In this case, if you donated a used CPAP to Goodwill to be sold in their store to raise money, that is an unrelated use and your deduction value is limited to the FMV or what you actually paid, whichever is lower. But donating a CPAP to a charity that will specifically refurbish it and give it to a needy person with a medical need (uninsured, etc) you can claim the FMV even if your cost was lower.
You still have a problem determine the FMV though.