Examples of Medical and Dental Payments You Can Include in Calculating Your Total Medical Expenses

To the extent you weren’t reimbursed in calculating your total medical expenses, you can include what you paid for:

Insurance premiums for medical and dental care, including premiums for qualified long-term care insurance contracts as defined in Pub. 502. But see Limit on long-term care premiums you can deduct , later. Reduce the insurance premiums by any self-employed health insurance deduction you claimed on Schedule 1 (Form 1040), line 17. You can't include insurance premiums paid by making a pretax reduction to your employee compensation because these amounts are already being excluded from your income by not being included in box 1 of your Form(s) W-2. If you are a retired public safety officer, you can't include any premiums you paid to the extent they were paid for with a tax-free distribution from your retirement plan.

Prescription medicines or insulin.

Acupuncturists, chiropractors, dentists, eye doctors, medical doctors, occupational therapists, osteopathic doctors, physical therapists, podiatrists, psychiatrists, psychoanalysts (medical care only), and psychologists.

Medical examinations, X-ray and laboratory services, and insulin treatments your doctor ordered.

Diagnostic tests, such as a full-body scan, pregnancy test, or blood sugar test kit.

Nursing help (including your share of the employment taxes paid). If you paid someone to do both nursing and housework, you can deduct only the cost of the nursing help.

Hospital care (including meals and lodging), clinic costs, and lab fees.

Qualified long-term care services (see Pub. 502).

The supplemental part of Medicare insurance (Medicare Part B).

The premiums you pay for Medicare Part D insurance.

A program to stop smoking and for prescription medicines to alleviate nicotine withdrawal.

A weight-loss program as treatment for a specific disease (including obesity) diagnosed by a doctor.

Medical treatment at a center for drug or alcohol addiction.

Medical aids such as eyeglasses, contact lenses, hearing aids, braces, crutches, wheelchairs, and guide dogs, including the cost of maintaining them.

Surgery to improve defective vision, such as laser eye surgery or radial keratotomy.

Lodging expenses (but not meals) while away from home to receive medical care provided by a physician in a hospital or a medical care facility related to a hospital provided there was no significant element of personal pleasure, recreation, or vacation in the travel. Don't deduct more than $50 a night for each person who meets the requirements in Pub. 502 under Lodging .

Ambulance service and other travel costs to get medical care. If you used your own car, you can include what you spent for gas and oil to go to and from the place you received the care or you can include 21 cents a mile. Add parking and tolls to the amount you claim under either method.

Cost of breast pumps and supplies that assist lactation.

Personal protective equipment (such as masks, hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes) for the primary purpose of preventing the spread of Coronavirus.

Limit on long-term care premiums you can include.

The amount you can include for qualified long-term care insurance contracts (as defined in Pub. 502) depends on the age at the end of 2025 of the person for whom the premiums were paid. See the following chart for details.

IF the person was, at the end of 2025, age . . . THEN the most you can include is . . . 40 or under $ 480 41–50 $ 900 51–60 $ 1,800 61–70 $ 4,810 71 or older $ 6,020