I am itemizing my tax return. Which medical expenses can I deduct?

When itemizing your medical expenses, the medical expenses you can deduct include:

For the treatment of a disease:

• Diagnosis
• Curing
• Easing
• Treatment
• Prevention

If one of those applies, you can also include the associated costs for:

• Equipment
• Supplies
• Diagnostic services

The expenses must be primarily to improve or prevent a physical or mental deficiency or illness.

Deductible medical expenses include:

• Acupuncture
• Alcoholism treatment
• Ambulance service
• Annual physicals
• Bandages
• Birth control
• Body scan
• Braces
• Braille books and magazines for the visually impaired
• Breast pumps and supplies
• Chiropractic care
• Christian Science practitioner care
• Contact lenses and the supplies required to maintain them
• Necessary dental treatment (doesn’t include whitening)
• Diagnostic devices (Ex: blood sugar test kit for a diabetic)
• Drug addiction treatment
• Prescribed medications
• Eye doctor
• Eye glasses
• Eye surgery
• Fertility enhancement
• Guide dog or other service animal
• Hearing aids
• Home care
• Insulin
• Insurance premiums
• Lab fees
• Lead-based paint removal (not repainting)
• Certain Medicare A, B, and, D
• Nursing home or services
• Oxygen
• Physical or occupational therapy
• Prosthesis
• Psychiatric care
• Psychologist
• Sex-reassignment surgery and related hormone therapy for the treatment of gender-identity disorder disease
• Sterilization
• Smoking cessation programs except over-the-counter nicotine gums and patches
• Surgery
• Transplants
• Transportation to obtain medical care
• X-rays