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Question on Deducting Nursing Home costs?
QUESTION: My mother may need to go into a nursing home. From what I
read recently on CNN is that ALL COSTS including lodging,
meals, medical care are deductible. That sounds good. She
has money to pay for the nursing home, pays for her own
prescriptions and and then Medicare.
I know some people think only the costs related to medical
care are dedcutible but the article did indeed say lodging.
My questions are thus and I thank you in advance:
1. Is there a limit on how much money is deductible?
2. Is the cost deductible (for nursing home) straight away
or does it have to offset income or be xx% over AGI or
something like that? She has no income other that Soc
Security. She does have about $30k taken out of an IRA (due
to her age) and from a trust (fathers). If she had $20k in
nursing home costs can the full 20k be deducted?
ANSWER: If you are talking about a "skilled nursing facility" that
requires a doctor's order for admission, I believe you will
have no difficulty deducting 100% of the expense (subject to
the normal limits for medical expenses). (Some charges, like
for cable television, might not be deductible.)
However, if you are talking about an "assisted living
facility" that you can check in and out of voluntarily (no
doctor's order required), then generally only the "medical"
portions of the tab are deductible.
The foregoing is a very general explanation. There might be
other criteria that apply to particular situations.
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