A Brief List of Typical Medical Expenses

On average, Americans spend $12,000 on healthcare-related expenses every year. That’s triple what someone pays in a socialist country like France. That’s not an exaggeration. French people typically spend around $4,000 on healthcare costs each year.

Save for becoming a French citizen, there’s not much you can do about the overall cost of healthcare expenses in the US.

All you can do is make sure you’re claiming every penny back you can, like with a medical expense list. If you keep itemized receipts and records, you can request money back on your taxes for certain medical deductions.

Learn more below.

Now or Later: HSA vs. Itemized Medical Expense List

There are two main ways you can make sure your medical deductions aren’t taxed. One takes some planning, while the other takes more organization.

If you have the money you can put into an account right now, your insurance or employer may offer an “HSA account.” This is a debit card-like program where you preload the card, use it for health-related purchases, and aren’t taxed on what you spend. You can learn more about how HSAs work online.

If you don’t have an HSA, you can surrender your universal life insurance policy and use the money to get a better medical insurance plan

Medical Deductions Post-Purchase

The other way you can do it is by keeping a detailed medical expense list. This means saving the receipts of all the healthcare expenses you’ve incurred this year. Those can be over-the-counter medication, bandaids, certain supplements, and other medical supplies.

Most of the time, anything you’re recommended while at doctor appointments will be eligible for tax deductions. You can always Google “is (supply name) tax-deductible” before buying to be sure.

At the end of the year, you take the list of medical expenses, add them up, and you can request tax money back if the total is over 7.5% of your annual income. This is not tax advice and you should check with your tax professional to be sure.

What Medical Expenses Qualify?

You can find pages-long lists of HSA and tax-deductible medical supplies online. Your insurance provider likely has a list you can reference too. Here is a shortlist of examples

• Contact lenses
• Breast pumps
• Hearing aids
• False teeth
• Chiropractic services
• Birth control
• Pregnancy tests
• Wheelchairs
• Injury supplies (first-aid)
• Oxygen tanks
• Smoking cessation programs
• Prescription drugs
• Weight loss programs
• and more

Remember that to claim these deductions, you have to have costs that exceed 7.5% of your annual income. In some cases, you can deduct your health insurance premium even if you don’t meet the threshold, but you’ll need to ask your tax professional about specifics.

Paying for Healthcare Expenses in 2022 and Beyond

If medical expenses exceed 7.5% of your income, then you can benefit from keeping a medical expense list. Even if your costs aren’t that high, it’s a good idea to keep a general one for budgeting purposes.

We hope you learned something from this article and invite you to explore our blog further.