Nursing Home payment of 1099R Distribution

[The-Tax-Lady]

Grandmother is in nursing home and Ohio Medicaid was paid the gross distribution of the 33,000 on the 1099R, by the granddaughter in 2021.

The entire $33,000 is considered a medical expense, I think. Is there any reason it would not be considered a medical expense for the grandmother on her 2021 return?

[sjrcpa]

Sounds correct to me.

[BobKamman · Accepted solution]

I always share with clients the explanation from Pub 502--

Long-Term Care

You can include in medical expenses amounts paid for qualified long-term care services and certain amounts of premiums paid for qualified long-term care insurance contracts.

Qualified Long-Term Care Services

Qualified long-term care services are necessary diagnostic, preventive, therapeutic, curing, treating, mitigating, rehabilitative services, and maintenance and personal care services (defined later) that are:

1. Required by a chronically ill individual, and

2. Provided pursuant to a plan of care prescribed by a licensed health care practitioner.

Chronically ill individual. 

An individual is chronically ill if, within the previous 12 months, a licensed health care practitioner has certified that the individual meets either of the following descriptions.

1. He or she is unable to perform at least two activities of daily living without substantial assistance from another individual for at least 90 days, due to a loss of functional capacity. Activities of daily living are eating, toileting, transferring, bathing, dressing, and continence.

2. He or she requires substantial supervision to be protected from threats to health and safety due to severe cognitive impairment.

Maintenance and personal care services. 

Maintenance or personal care services is care which has as its primary purpose the providing of a chronically ill individual with needed assistance with his or her disabilities (including protection from threats to health and safety due to severe cognitive impairment).

[The-Tax-Lady]

Thank you for the information and for saving me that research on 4/16.😊