Medical Expenses

[gmott18]

If I paid for my health insurance for 6 months on a Cobra plan during 2021, is that a qualified medical expense?  This was during my unemployment period post lay off.  Do i add that to surgery costs, prescriptions, dental?

ALso, where do eyeglasses fall?  if i have a medical type vision problem, and the glasses help to fix that, is that part of medical expenses?  Or is it just dental and medical?

[Kat]

Yes, your COBRA payments will be a qualified medical expense as long as you itemize your deductions on Schedule A.  Remember, though, that only the qualified medical expenses that EXCEED 7.5% of your AGI are deductible.  So you'd need quite a bit of medical expenses for this to be beneficial to you.  Since the Standard Deduction has been raised, many people find that they do better using the Standard Deduction vs. Itemized.

Your vision expenses, including eyeglasses, are also qualified medical expenses.

The TurboTax program will break down your expenses into different categories.  Once you begin to enter your medical expenses, you'll see the different categories.  One is for Prescription Drugs, another for Physician Visits, etc.  

See the info linked below to find where to enter your medical/dental/vision expenses:

Where do I enter my medical expenses? 

[gmott18]

Thanks. I ran through the entries and i did have substantial costs last yr due to surgeries and i paid my own health insurance for 6 months (not self-employed).  It was more than that 7.5% of AGI, but TurboTax still says it is best to go with the Standard Deduction. I thought i would be reducing my taxable amount but it didnt budge it. Strange but true.

[Kat]

Yeah, it's pretty crazy.  It takes LOTS of deductions (not just medical) to be more beneficial than the Standard Deduction now.  Many more taxpayers use the Standard Deduction now.

It was worth a try, though!