Medical Expense Tax Deduction: How to Claim in 2026

You might be able to deduct qualified medical expenses that are more than 7.5% of your adjusted gross income. Some states offer lower thresholds.

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Updated Mar 6, 2026

If you or your dependents have been in the hospital or had other costly medical or dental expenses, keep those receipts — they could help cut your tax bill. Here's a look at how the medical expense deduction works and how you can make the most of it.

Are medical expenses tax-deductible?

Taxpayers can deduct qualified, unreimbursed medical expenses that are more than 7.5% of their adjusted gross income. The 7.5% threshold used to be 10%, but legislative changes at the end of 2019 lowered it.

Generally, you can only include the medical expenses you paid during the year, and you can’t include expenses you were reimbursed for, so if insurance paid the bill or you used your FSA to pay for the expense, it’s not deductible.

Example: If your adjusted gross income is $40,000, anything beyond the first $3,000 of unreimbursed medical bills — or 7.5% of your AGI — could be deductible. That means if you had $10,000 in medical bills, you may be able to write off $7,000 worth of those expenses.

Which medical expenses are tax-deductible?

IRS Publication 502 has the full list, but in a nutshell, here's what may count as a medical expense.

Medical payments and some insurance premiums: Payments to doctors, dentists, surgeons, chiropractors, psychiatrists, psychologists and other medical practitioners are generally deductible. Insurance premiums for medical care or long-term care insurance are also deductible if they’re not paid by your employer and you pay out of pocket after taxes.

Prescription drugs, medicines and other medically necessary items: This can include insulin, prescription drugs, dentures, eyeglasses, contacts, hearing aids, crutches, wheelchairs, service animals and more.

Reproductive care: This can include the cost of pregnancy tests, birth control, breast pumps, and other lactation supplies, as well as procedures such as in vitro fertilization, vasectomies and legal abortions. Costs associated with surrogacy are not deductible.

Certain health programs and services: This covers addiction programs, such as those for quitting smoking, and weight-loss programs for doctor-diagnosed diseases (but food and health club dues usually don’t count).

Transportation: Transportation costs to and from medical care generally count as deductible. Admission and transportation to medical conferences about diseases that you, your spouse or your dependents have also count, but meals and lodging related to that event do not.

Operations: You generally are able to deduct costs related to noncosmetic surgeries and procedures, such as breast reconstruction following a mastectomy or laser eye surgery.

Hospital and nursing home care: If you pay for nursing home or hospital care for yourself, your dependent or a spouse, costs related to that care may be deductible.

Which medical expenses are not tax-deductible?

Again, Publication 502 is your best guide here, but the following expenses are not allowable:

Funeral expenses.
Over-the-counter medicines.
Controlled substances.
Toothpaste, toiletries and cosmetics.
Nicotine gum and patches that don't require a prescription.
Most cosmetic surgery and treatment (e.g., electrolysis, hair transplants, teeth whitening).

How to claim the medical expense deduction

Itemize on your taxes

First, you’ll need to itemize instead of taking the standard deduction. For reference, the standard deduction for tax year 2025 ranges from $15,750 to $31,500, depending on your filing status. If your standard deduction ends up being less than your itemized deductions, you may want to itemize to save money. On the other hand, if your standard deduction is more than your itemized deductions, taking the standard deduction will save you some time.

» Learn more about itemizing versus taking the standard deduction

Use Schedule A

Schedule A allows you to do the math to calculate your deduction. Your tax software can walk you through the steps.

Keep good records

Hang onto those bills, and ask for records from your pharmacy or other care providers to fill in the holes, says Peter Gurian, a Dallas-area certified public accountant.

“If you're taking this deduction, you're probably pretty sick or you've got some problems that need to be dealt with. If that's the case, then the key is to really do a good job of keeping track of every single expense and expenditure,” he says.

Is it worth claiming medical expenses on taxes?

Consider your filing status. Filing separately if you’re married could get you a bigger medical expense deduction, but this move is risky because you might lose other tax breaks. Let’s say your spouse had $6,000 in medical bills last year. If you file jointly and your combined AGI is $100,000, then only the portion of your medical bills over 7.5% of that — or the portion over $7,500 — is deductible. So in this scenario, you can’t deduct any of your $6,000 in medical bills.

Now, let’s say you file separately. Your AGI is $75,000, and your spouse’s AGI is $25,000. Because the medical bills are your spouse’s, they could deduct anything over 7.5% of that $25,000 AGI, or $1,875. That would mean a $4,125 tax deduction for filing separately.

» MORE: See what tax filing status you should use

State thresholds for the medical expense deduction

Your state might have a lower AGI threshold, which could save you money, says Chris Whalen, a certified public accountant in Red Bank, New Jersey. In New Jersey, for example, the AGI threshold for deducting medical expenses is just 2%, which means taxpayers there might get a break on their state income taxes even if they can’t get one on their federal income taxes.

Whalen says it’s important to find out what your state’s rule is; you might leave money on the table otherwise. “I see it every year, all the time,” he says.

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1.Internal Revenue Service. IRS Publication 502 . Accessed Feb 16, 2024.

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Tina Orem

Tina Orem is an editor and content strategist at NerdWallet. Prior to becoming an editor and content strategist, she covered small business and taxes at NerdWallet. She has a degree in finance, as well as a master's degree in journalism and an MBA. Previously, she was a financial analyst and director of finance at public and private companies. Tina's work has appeared in a variety of local and national media outlets.

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Sabrina Parys

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