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Pallidin Asked May 2018

Is hospice care deductible?

My wife has been assigned to Hospice care. Is that tax deductible?

GardenArtist May 2018
Jeanne, just curious, but not trying to probe. Did your husband have a Medicare part D? Since Dad only had one prescription medicine and I have none, we only take meds for specific issues (such as the antibiotics), it wasn't cost effective to pay for a Plan D.

jeannegibbs May 2018
My husband was in hospice care at home. There were no bills whatsoever for that program.

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GardenArtist May 2018
Pallidin, I'm going through the process of determining that now, although it's for Palliative Care. What I've found is essentially that people in facilities suggest consulting an accountant knowledge=able on medical issues. Doesn't seem as if they either know for sure, or they don't want to get involved.

Some care is paid for, but there's also the room and board aspect if the person is in a facility. Will she be getting hospice care at home? If so, I believe that the medical care (nurse, etc.) will be covered by Medicare.

What I expected to get was an itemized breakdown of costs, but learned that the particular facility we used doesn't handle it that way.

What I've also discovered is that w/o a Plan D, the company used to provide meds "cannot bill" Medicare because it "isn't authorized to." I wasn't getting much cooperation, the meds amount was small and I decided my time was more important than arguing with the reps who really didn't understand what they were told to say.

I can deduct the meds cost, and I will.

I would suggest that you have a good discussion with the billing staff, if your wife will be in a facility, and ask exactly how they will bill you for the room and board and how they factor out or compute the medical costs that are deductible. You're likely to be told that's an issue you need to address with your accountant. But if you can at least get an itemized breakdown, you're a few steps ahead.

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