Medical Expense Tax Deduction: Key Characteristics by State

Maxim Shvedov

AARP Public Policy Institute

Published November 06, 2017

Today taxpayers with high out-of-pocket medical expenses may be able to deduct a portion of their costs from their taxable income. In 2015, 8.8 million taxpayers relied on this tax provision, deducting $86.9 billion. Between 2016 and 2020, the deduction is estimated to reduce the tax bill of these taxpayers by a total of $56.6 billion.

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