Medical & Dental out of pocket 2011

[ilovemk76]

It still hurts, though! Next week I go in for my 6-month cancer check up. I am praying I will be cancer free. It would help our budget, lol!

Good luck on the check-up.

 

[Ephany]

... and the removal of a mole to the tune of $2800.00!! (still mad about that one - 20 minutes in the doctor's office, $2800.00- grrrr)

Wow. I had 2 moles removed this fall and even before my insurance paid anything the office visits were around $150 each. My out-of-pocket was around 1/2 that as the removal was technically for cosmetic reasons. The nurse at the front desk said it was the cheapest place she'd ever seen for mole removal and I guess she was right! If they had been $2800 each, they'd still be there!

It still hurts, though! Next week I go in for my 6-month cancer check up. I am praying I will be cancer free. It would help our budget, lol!

 

[PatriciaH]

These threads make me grateful for my health insurance plan.

No kidding. Our out of pocket last year was about $20-50 in co pays and maybe $250 in prescription co-payments. DH's work pays 100% of our medical, dental and vision. That is the reason we moved away 2 years ago from friends, family and an area we loved. Health insurance. It is sad people have to do things like that in this country but we are grateful to have good benefits. I got my Irish citizenship too in case we need health insurance in the future and can't get a job with it here in the US.

 

[sam_gordon]

I don't know if it's been mentioned, but if you're deducting these on taxes, check to see if the premium was taken out of the checks pre or post tax. My understanding is if they were taken out pre-tax, you can't deduct them.

For what it's worth, family of 5, <$2000 out of pocket. If you count the money DW's employer puts in an HSA for turning down their coverage, our OOP is 0. We'll have some ER visits through the year, but (fortunately) no surgeries or extended hospital stays.

 

[mistysue]

I hope it works out to mostly be deductible for you.
We have a $20 copay, no deductible and a $5 prescription charge. We still managed to pay out just under $13,000 if you count our premiums ($500/month) and dental ($3,000) I swear somebody gets sick every week around here, including some out of network visits from our vacation.

In addition to that, we have to buy all sorts of allergy medicines and creams for our 3 year old, none of which count as medical expenses. He is also allergic to eggs, wheat, soy, milk, shellfish and nuts- so our grocery bills have more than tripled and the IRS couldn't care less. (Almost wish he had a celiac's diagnosis because it would make no difference except food becomes a deduction!)

If you added in the allergy meds and difference in food costs we would get pretty close to your $18,000... I'm curious how high it will get this year, the baby has hypotonia and goes to PT weekly now.
I don't feel like our medical expenses are normal.

 

[Chelley00]

He is also allergic to eggs, wheat, soy, milk, shellfish and nuts- so our grocery bills have more than tripled and the IRS couldn't care less. (Almost wish he had a celiac's diagnosis because it would make no difference except food becomes a deduction!)l.

You might want to check with an accountant. Our CPA says we can claim the difference in food cost from regular food and allergy free food as long as we have a doctor validated dietary need, not just Celiac. I keep a copy of my allergy testing results and a note from my doctor saying that I must have the special foods to maintain my diet and then keep a detailed spreadsheet of what I buy and what it would regularly cost. It takes some work, but by the time we add in all our other medical expenses (doctors, glasses, contacts etc) we easily make the 7.5% of our AGI.

 

[Natalie's Mommy]

ya know im kicking myself for not keeping recepts for 2011 but it started out fine and about half waythrough the year we got slammed :-(

 

[ccgirl]

I guess I am lucky for my health insurance. My premiums are $240 a month for family medical and $36 a month for dental. We probably paid about $500 OOP for dental and $300 OOP for copays and that includes a couple of hospitalizations for my son's asthma. Thankfully, they are all covered at 100% (inluding the ambulance ride).

I hope all the posters have a healthy year ahead!

 

[disfan07]

I hope it works out to mostly be deductible for you.
We have a $20 copay, no deductible and a $5 prescription charge. We still managed to pay out just under $13,000 if you count our premiums ($500/month) and dental ($3,000) I swear somebody gets sick every week around here, including some out of network visits from our vacation.

In addition to that, we have to buy all sorts of allergy medicines and creams for our 3 year old, none of which count as medical expenses. He is also allergic to eggs, wheat, soy, milk, shellfish and nuts- so our grocery bills have more than tripled and the IRS couldn't care less. (Almost wish he had a celiac's diagnosis because it would make no difference except food becomes a deduction!)

If you added in the allergy meds and difference in food costs we would get pretty close to your $18,000... I'm curious how high it will get this year, the baby has hypotonia and goes to PT weekly now.
I don't feel like our medical expenses are normal.

Yes they do count as medical expenses. You need to have receipts and (from what we were advised) letters from physicians saying they are medically necessary.

All of my OTC meds are prescribed by physicians so they are all covered under our medical expenses:
Biotin
B12
Zyrtec
Allegra
Vanicream
Vitamin D/Calcium
Align
Saline spray
Zantac

In addition, mileage and parking is important as well. I drove about 4300 miles this year for doctors appointments alone and we spend on average, about $50/month on parking.

It all counts for medical expenses.

 

[mistysue]

Sounds like I need a better accountant. I was told if it was OTC we couldn't deduct it.

 

[disfan07]

Sounds like I need a better accountant. I was told if it was OTC we couldn't deduct it.

It's really confusing...and it might depend on the medications and the uses.But we sent my grandpa (who is a retired accountant) a list of my OTC meds and he had their accountant look at it (yes...he is an accountant who uses an accountant) and that's what we were told. So we have added it to our medical expenses.....we'll see what happens.....

However, we've heard different things form different people. Meaning, we know a couple of people who were told they don't count, and a couple of people who were told they do count as long as they are prescribed by a physician. It's weird...it seems to be something that even accountants are not entirely sure about and I don't know if it differes based on the meds, the diagnosis, or something liek that. But its all very confusing.

 

[sookie]

did you pay for your premiums before or after taxes? if it was before taxes you can't deduct.