MTW wrote:
- quote -

Well, I didn't and wouldn't know that; and didn't as you can
tell. Learn somethng EVERY day. Course I don't have
Medicare. Maybe some day.

ChEAr$,
Harlan

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Harlan Lunsford <hlunsford[at]bellsouth.net> wrote:

- quote -

Google, my friends, Google. From the official Medicare Web site:

- quote -

<http://www.medicare.gov/Health/FluDetails.asp
--
D.F. Manno
dfm2a3l0t2[at]spymac.com
The average man doesn't want to be free. He simply wants to be safe.
(H.L. Mencken)

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Harlan Lunsford wrote:

- quote -

I know because the filling out of forms greatly slows the
lines at the super market. <g
- quote -

Go to the Medicare homepage: www.medicare.gov and click on
the "Important information about Flu Shots" link.

MTW

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- quote -

THANK YOU ! It's been too long since I read Pub 502. And
too recently having it apply.

To the doctor's recommendation of niacin, I can add the
Oscal 500+D which is calcium for osteo whatever - bone
density loss - and over the counter to be taken with a
hideously expensive prescription.

And how about the Tussin DM I am swigging by the bottleful
at the moment for a bad cold and cough - also recommended by
my doctor because I'm diabetic.

Nan, EA in LA

Entrenched belief is never altered by the facts.....

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MTW wrote:
- quote -

Gee Mike, you're young, aren't you? (grin
Cause if you were over 65 you'd know.

I've never heard that Medicare would cover this. Perhaps
state Medicaid might however.

ChEAr$,
Harlan Lunsford
Tue, 19 Oct 2004 15:58:40

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HW "Skip" Weldon wrote:

- quote -

In fact, doesn't Medicare pay for flu shots? In that case,
it ~can't~ simply be a drug because Medicare DOESN'T COVER
drugs (yet).

MTW

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- quote -

The purpose of a flu vaccination is the prevention of
disease. This meets the criteria of medical care. the only
issue is whether one has purchased an OTC medicine or
whether one has paid for a medical procedure. Unless an
individual is actually buying flu vaccine OTC and then
injecting it himself or paying some other person to inject
it, the payment is for a medical procedure to prevent
disease. I see no reason why it is not deductible.

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- quote -

You have to itemize and meet the 7-1/2% threshold for
medical expenses before this goes from being an academic
exercise to being a practice issue. UNLESS you have
health insurance or an FSA for medical expenses then it
is a function of what the policy or the FDA includes and
explicitly excludes.

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Ronni wrote:

- quote -

When you get a flu shot you pay about $10 for the vaccine
and about $10 for the materials (syringe, alcohol, band-aid,
labor costs of nurse and paperwork, etc.). It's not like
you pay $20 for the materials, and they throw in the vaccine
for free. It's good to know, in any case, that folks here
say they are deductible.

And here's more great news!-- I was just looking online at
IRS Pub. 502 for 2003, and it contradicts several posters in
here who previously posted on deductibility of vitamins. I
had asked if I could deduct my over-the-counter high dose
niacin since my doctor wanted me to take it to lower my
cholesterol, since many people cannot tolerate the
prescription form of niacin The consensus in here was no, I
could not because it was non-prescription. However, look
what I just found in Pub. 502 (2003):

"You cannot include in medical expenses the cost of
nutritional supplements, vitamins, herbal supplements,
“natural medicines,” etc. unless they are recommended by
a medical practitioner as treatment for a specific medical
condition diagnosed by a physician."

Since my physician recommended the niacin, I can apparently
deduct it. The above says it doesn't have to be prescribed,
if recommended. That's good news, since I spend about $200
per year on it. That's an extra $50 dollars in tax savings
to spend on ice cream and freedom fries

GS

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- quote -

Why isn't antioxidant OTC pills, which prevent disease,
deductible?

Or other injectible medicines available without
prescription, other than insulin?

Pub 502 seems to deliberately avoid the issue, but since Flu
shots are OTC and are not used to treat disease, why would
they differ from other OTC pills or exercise regimens which
are to prevent disease?

__
Art Kamlet ArtKamlet [at] AOL.com Columbus OH K2PZH

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Arthur L. Rubin wrote:
- quote -

While the actual injection itself is a "procedure", what's
coursing through your veins is a drug, pure and simple. All
chemicals are drugs, good or bad.

Only one chemical need not be a prescription - insulin.

But Scotch whisky to be deductible would have to be
prescribed. Just can't get my doc to agree, however.

ChEAr$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA
14oct 04 22:22:22

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Arthur L. Rubin wrote:
- quote -

Sure thing! Just like my wrist watch which I NEED to make
sure I'm not late for an appointment, or rather that I'm
ready when the client gets here.

Come to think of it...... my hair also grows on company time.

ChEAr$,
Harlan Lunsford

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Arthur L. Rubin" <ronnirubin[at]sprintmail.com> wrote:

- quote -

This thread reminds me of the investment and financial
planning newsgroups where nobody can agree on anything.
<grin
Seriously, the proposition that flu vaccinations are a
procedure not product would seem to fly in the face of
today's headlines - there's no shortage of procedure
(nurses, needles and willing customers), the problem is
vaccine product. But then, nobody said this stuff had to
make sense.

At any rate, I assume flu shots are reimbursable under
Medical FSAs.

-HW "Skip" Weldon
Columbia, SC

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A.G. Kalman wrote:

- quote -

I think I missed something, also. It's only MEDICATIONS
that have to be prescription drugs (or insulin) in order to
be deductible. The flu shot is a procedure -- they're not
selling you the vaccine, they're injecting it.

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GarySport wrote:

- quote -

I let this one go by as I thought the answer was so obvious
that there would be too many answers.

I must have missed something! I've always thought that
vaccinations to prevent disease are deductible as medical
expense. Is there some exception in the law for flu shots?

--
Alan
http://taxtopics.net

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JanZtax wrote:

- quote -

Would that make it a business expense, even if not allowable
as a medical expense?

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- quote -

For what it's worth -- I am on the medically-recommended
list for flu shots, but not on the "official" list in regard
the current shortage. I hope my doctor will ignore the
"offical" list.

- quote -

Probably a tetanus shot, also.

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- quote -

The real question is "were you deserving enough to be
entitled to get a shot??!" The San Francisco Chronicle had a
front page story about "non-deserving people" hogging the
shots that should go to others (and hiding their faces and
refusing to talk to the reporter who questioned them about
it)!

(I'm of the school that says anyone who works in a tax
office should get a flu shot)

Jan Zobel EA

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GarySport wrote:

- quote -

That's about the size of it; non deductible.

On a similar note, some doctors now "prescribe" over the
counter medications, since they're so much cheaper and as
effective. For example, over the counter, 20$, generic of
the usual drug 50$, and brand name, 100$. Makes sense, eh?
Problem is, insurance companies won't cover over the counter
drugs, and the consumer might still wind up paying the same
amount (after deductible) for presecription drugs.

ChEAr$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

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garysport[at]aol.comjk.net (GarySport) wrote:

- quote -

Non-prescription medicines are not deductible as a medical
expense. If the flu shot is administered in your doctor's
office, because you are a high-risk patient, it might be.

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