TAX EXPERTS?? Medical bills question??

[dmccarty]

instead of looking at the tax angle of this i would try to save money by offering to pay the bill in full immediately for a discount.

That is a good suggestion.

We tried this with the wifey's hospital bills and they would NOT lower the bill but they did, without our asking, setup a payment plan that has no interest! Go figure. We have been paying off the bill every month since it does not cost us anything to do so.

Later,
Dan

 

[LD1]

I may inquire about lowering them for a discount. But I have the cash and am ready to pay an do not want payments. No one can predict the future, and I don't want to end up on hard times years from and still have these bills to pay. My goal is to be debt free as soon as possible. And my mortgage is all I owe on, and want to keep it that way, regardless of interest free or not.

I know the experts would say to take that money and pay on the house if I can get interest free medical payments, but there is something to be said about only owing money on the house.

 

[LD1]

Well I spoke with my tax guy. Info here is pretty much spot on.

Itemization is a must. And only what exceeds 10% of gross income can be claimed. So it don't look like there is any way of getting any tax benefits. Only way possible would be to have a bad 2014, lots more med bills, and lower than expected income.

 

[SPIKER]

Well I spoke with my tax guy. Info here is pretty much spot on.

Itemization is a must. And only what exceeds 10% of gross income can be claimed. So it don't look like there is any way of getting any tax benefits. Only way possible would be to have a bad 2014, lots more med bills, and lower than expected income.

Then I would go ahead and see if they will give you 0% interest free loan and extended payments, put the CASH into the markets as they are still going up for at least most of 2014 by my estimation. If ya do and want to compare investing notes let me know... Been doing my own IRA and Savings margin accounts for 5+ years now, but I have to admit I'm only up 45% or so in them years

Mark

 

[randy41]

well my thought about negotiating had more to do with paying the bill in full immediately in exchange for a discount. like you call the provider and say hey i owe you 10k. i'll give you 7.5k today and we call it even. they ask what you've been smoking. you get the point. like everything else, nothing ventured nothing gained.

 

[LD1]

Thanks for the offer mark. And I may take you up on that in the future. Currently I don't like the idea of another loan, even if 0%. And right now I have all invested that I want to. I like to keep some quick cash on hand for when I need it, and that's what I would use here. My 401k managed by vanguard but with funds I pick has been doing really well. 10% or so for each of the last 3-4 years.

I think I may inquire about the discount for paying in full and see what they say. It certainly cannot hurt.

 

[azkubotaguy]

We are in the same boat, our Daughter had two ankle surgeries this year and I had some medical expenses as well - in total about 12,000 out of pocket. But we combined made about 200,000 last year so we are out of luck. Our CPA did tell us to put the maximum into our HSA and then write a check back to ourselves for that amount and we could get that deduction.

 

[LD1]

I will have to look into the paying myself out of the HSA thing. How long after the fact can that still be done? Obviously I can't pour a pile of money in there right now, because that money is already been taxed. But over the course of 2014, if we pur in the max of $6k or whatever, at the end of 2014 can I pay myself for bills I paid out of pocket earlier in the year???

Sure is worth a deeper look.

 

[azkubotaguy]

I will have to look into the paying myself out of the HSA thing. How long after the fact can that still be done? Obviously I can't pour a pile of money in there right now, because that money is already been taxed. But over the course of 2014, if we pur in the max of $6k or whatever, at the end of 2014 can I pay myself for bills I paid out of pocket earlier in the year???

Sure is worth a deeper look.

I am not sure my Wife is checking with the HR Department at her employer, our CPA said we could put the money in up until filing our taxes and pay ourselves back before we file, but we still need to confirm this.

 

[aczlan]

I will have to look into the paying myself out of the HSA thing. How long after the fact can that still be done? Obviously I can't pour a pile of money in there right now, because that money is already been taxed. But over the course of 2014, if we pur in the max of $6k or whatever, at the end of 2014 can I pay myself for bills I paid out of pocket earlier in the year???
Sure is worth a deeper look.

I believe so. You can also pay for your bills with it as they come in. That is how we do it.

Aaron Z