Qualified medical expenses ?

[JudyB]

I have a 90 yr old and doing taxes. This year she paid close to 40,000 to a service for home help. This covered everything. Medical help, getting ready for bed, and morning schedule, medicine comply, and doing what tax payer cannot.   Do I have to alter the amount to reflect household help vs personal medical..    it was all to help her stay in her home. Thank you  judy

[Strongsilence-CPA]

Do I have to alter the amount to reflect household help vs personal medical

yes, you can read the instructions and / or take my advice.  I tell these types of elderly clients to use a reasonable allocation method to separate true medical care vs personal care (toiletry, cooking, cleaning.) The best way would be to have the home agency bill it to you with the categories separated out.  Also, try to get an letter from the agency stating their estimates for each category.

all to help her stay in her home.  Then 0 is medical right?

[IRonMaN]

"all to help her stay in her home.  Then 0 is medical right?"

You had me up until that point.  You don't need to be hooked up to an iron lung to consider whether or not someone getting a helping hand in their home is medically necessary.  

[BobKamman]

Who arranged for this home health care? Who supervises it to make sure that it is being provided properly? Did she just go to the Yellow Pages herself to find a provider, or is there a family member involved? The answer from @Strongsilence-CPA  is the first part of Pub 502 for “nursing services.” But that publication also refers to the section on “Qualified Long-Term Care Services.”

...Which are necessary diagnostic, preventive, therapeutic, curing, treating, mitigating, rehabilitative services, and maintenance and personal care services (see below) 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. The individual 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. The individual 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 the individual’s disabilities (including protection from threats to health and safety due to severe cognitive impairment).

[Terry53029]

Seems no one has answered your question. No you don't have to separate, if she meets the two points listed. From pub 502. 

Long-Term Care You can include in medical expenses amounts paid for qualified long-term care services. 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. The individual 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. The individual requires substantial supervision to be protected from threats to health and safety due to severe cognitive impairment.