EDITORIAL: House Republicans target medical expense deductions for elderly, disabled
That could be the worst part of the tax cut bill passed in the
To pay for it, the
The deduction allows taxpayers to write off medical expenses that exceed 10 percent of their taxable income. Most families don't have anything near that level of medical expenses, so they take the standard deduction, which the House bill would nearly double.
But for millions of families, even doubling the standard deduction won't offset the extraordinary cost of paying for long-term nursing care for loved ones, cancer treatment not covered by insurance, or caring for loved ones with Alzheimer's disease, autism or profound disabilities. For them, the medical expense tax deduction is the difference between bankruptcy and scraping by.
"For people who are receiving long-term care and are paying for it themselves, this is going to be a huge deal,"
Relative to the
Fortunately, eliminating it is not in the
There is a lot to hate in both bills, and Americans know it. A
Congressional
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