9 Often Overlooked Medical Deductions

Photo by Sabine01

Health care costs can eat up a large portion of budgets, particularly if you've experienced a medical emergency. The one advantage is that Uncle Sam allows you to deduct medical costs that are more than 7.5 percent of your adjusted gross income. With a touch of tax triage, you might just reach this golden number and greatly reduce your tax burden. 

You can deduct medical expenses of everyone listed on your tax return, including dental bills. You also might be able to deduct expenses paid for a parent, even if they aren't considered your dependent for exemption purposes. You also can deduct money spent on medical bills for a deceased depending in the year they were paid, whether before or after the person passed away. 

Here are nine allowable and often overlooked medical deductions. 

1. Travel
You can legally deduct travel expenses to and from medical treatments but the mileage rate changes each year. For 2010, the mileage rate deduction is 16.5 cents.

2. Previously Taxed Income 
Insurance payments from already taxed income include the cost of long-term care insurance, up to certain limits based on your age.

3. Uninsured Medical Treatments
This includes an extra pair of eyeglasses or set of contact lenses, false teeth, hearing aids and artificial limbs.

4. Addition Recovery Programs
You can include the costs of alcohol- or drug-abuse treatments on Schedule A.

5. Laser Surgery
Lasik and other vision-corrective surgeries are tax-allowable procedures.

6. Medical Necessities
If your doctor told you to add a humidifier to your home's heating and air conditioning system to relieve your chronic breathing problems, the device (and additional electricity costs to operate it) can be at least partially deductible.

7. Medical Conferences
You can count admission and transportation expenses to some medical conferences and education programs if they concern a chronic illness suffered by you, your spouse or a dependent. Meals and lodging costs while at the seminar, however, are not deductible.

8. Smoking Sensation Programs
The IRS approved stop-smoking programs as allowable deductions, adding yet another incentive to give up the cancer sticks for life.

9. Diet Programs Medical Necessity
Health-conscious taxpayers have a friend at the IRS. Some weight-loss programs are now considered allowable medical deductions. However, a diet program must be considered a medical necessity. Acceptable situations include when your doctor recommends a regimen to reduce the health risks of obesity or hypertension.