One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This archival content was originally written for and published on KPCC.org. Keep in mind that links and images may no longer work — and references may be outdated.
Who loses out if the medical deduction disappears?
Following the money trail is pretty easy with doctors, but nurses are another story.
(
Adrianna Williams/Getty Images
)
Listen
0:56
Who loses out if the medical deduction disappears?
While the GOP tax plan has come under fire on several fronts, one proposal getting less attention would do away with the medical expense deduction. People like Dale Berman of Burbank say it's helped them a lot.
Berman, 60, says he’s had Crohn’s Disease since he was 15.
"I have to take a lot of over the counter drugs and prescription drugs [so] I can be somewhat normal," he said.
Those prescriptions add up, and the chronic inflammatory bowel disease affects his ability to work, too.
"When you get older the disease takes a toll on your body," said Berman. "So it’s not easy."
Eliminating the medical deduction would increase his tax bill by at least $1,000, he said.
The deduction only kicks in if an individual spends more than 10 percent of his income on medical expenses.
Sponsored message
"It’s probably fair to say that Californians numbering in the high hundreds of thousands benefit from the federal medical expenses deduction each year," said Scott Graves, director of research at the California Budget and Policy Center.
That includes "the poor and sick," said Katherine Pratt, a professor Loyola Law School. "And in particular, people with a chronic illness."
Because the GOP’s bill expands the standard deduction, more people will choose not to itemize at all, noted Kim Rueben, senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.
"However," she said, "for the people who have large medical expenses, it will increase their tax bill."
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
