Adult Family Home charges as Medical Expenses 100%

[Karen Lee]

This is a topic we discussed last tax season. This concerns two of my family members and friends. I spend $5200./month for my mothers care at an Adult Family Home. She is private pay because she doesn't qualify for any aid and I am spending her savings FAST on her care. I am getting her tax documentation together including the sale of her condo and taxable distributions from her IRA, I am going to take 100% of her charges from the ADF as medical expenses. She is disabled from stroke and dementia and requires 24/7 care. I would like to be reassured from you guys that this is correct. Getting a doctor's statement would not be a problem.

What are your opinions on this?

Karen

[lbbwest]

This is a topic we discussed last tax season. This concerns two of my family members and friends. I spend $5200./month for my mothers care at an Adult Family Home. She is private pay because she doesn't qualify for any aid and I am spending her savings FAST on her care. I am getting her tax documentation together including the sale of her condo and taxable distributions from her IRA, I am going to take 100% of her charges from the ADF as medical expenses. She is disabled from stroke and dementia and requires 24/7 care. I would like to be reassured from you guys that this is correct. Getting a doctor's statement would not be a problem.

What are your opinions on this?

Karen

I always get a Dr. Statement and retain in file; I take the entire amount as she is not able to feed herself etc. lbb

[GERALD]

It is clear from my readings that 100% is medical expense if the individual is there due to a physical condition and the availability of medical care is a primary reason. I faced the same situation with both my parents, although I did not need to use 100% to offset their income. I have a little problem with the term "Adult Family Home" because around here that generally means a facility where residents are able to care for themselves to some extent, although some facilities have different levels of care where they can move from assisted living to skilled nursing care units as their condition worsens.

Based on what you say, I certainly would take the 100%.

You have my sincere sympathy in having to deal with this. I don't care how good the care is, there is no such thing as a "good" nursing home. It is a depressing situation and my prayers are with you.

Gerald

[MontanaEA]

Karen,

The Alzheimers Association website has some good info on this. They say in order to claim these expenses, you need two pieces of documentation. One is a certification from a licensed health care professional that the person is chronically ill, the other is a copy of the plan of care from the facility. I am cutting and pasting the a sample certification below:

CERTIFICATION OF CHRONICALLY ILL INDIVIDUAL UNDER

INTERNAL REVENUE CODE §7702B

The undersigned certifies that he or she is a licensed health care practitioner as defined in IRC §7702B©(4) (that is a physician (as defined in §1861® of the Social Security Act), a registered professional nurse, or a licensed social worker).

The undersigned certifies that _______________________ is a chronically ill individual because she meets one of the following two tests:

Activities of Daily Living Test. She is unable to perform at least two of the activities of daily living (ADLs), eating, toileting, transferring, bathing, dressing, and continence without substantial assistance from another individual and has been or will be unable to perform such ADLs without such assistance for a period of at least 90 days due to a loss of functional capacity. I understand that (1) “Substantial assistance” means hands-on assistance and standby assistance; (2) “Hands-on assistance” means the physical assistance of another person without which the individual would be unable to perform the ADL; (3) “Standby assistance” means the presence of another person within arm’s reach of the individual that is necessary to prevent, by physical intervention, injury to the individual while the individual is performing the ADL (such as being ready to catch the individual if the individual falls while getting into or out of the bathtub or shower as part of bathing, or being ready to remove food from the individual’s throat if the individual chokes while eating).

Cognitive Impairment Test. She requires substantial supervision to protect herself from threats to health and safety due to severe cognitive impairment. I understand that (1) “Severe cognitive impairment” means a loss or deterioration in intellectual capacity that is (a) comparable to (and includes) Alzheimer’s disease and similar forms of irreversible dementia, and ( measured by clinical evidence and standardized tests that reliably measure impairment in the individual’s (i) short-term or long-term memory, (ii) orientation as to people, places, or time, and (iii) deductive or abstract reasoning, and that (2) “Substantial supervision” means continual supervision (which may include cuing by verbal prompting, gestures, or other demonstrations) by another person that is necessary to protect the severely cognitively impaired individual from threats to his or her health or safety (such as may result from wandering).

________________________________________ ______________________

Signature Date

Title

[Karen Lee]

Thanks for the statement will use it and keep it on file. Adult Family Home in Washington State is the alternative to Nursing Home Care and beyond Assisted Living. It was last tax season that I had to remove Mom from her condo and find alternative housing. Was really a bad season for me. I also take care of my 101 yr old grandma who is also in an Adult Family Home...closer to me here in Morton. My wonderful husband makes sure I am fed and the toilets are cleaned while I take care of his in-laws. Grandma was in assisted living until the middle of tax season last year when I had to find alternative care of her. Last year was a challenge. CCH cannot do anything to me that could compare to last year.

Everyone is now being taken care of to my satisfaction, HRB is upset, ATX seems to be working well for me (knock on wood) and now I am worrying about all the unemployed ATX employees and soon to be unemployed.

Thanks so much

Karen

[michaelmars]

most care facilities have a letter available breaking out the medical percentage of the care and its based on the number of normal care procedues the patient needs, ie. feeding, bathing, dressing etc. in your case i would guess 100% is appropiate.