What counts as a “qualified medical expense?
The Internal Revenue Service has defined qualified medical expenses in a very broad way, to include “the costs of diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease, and the costs for treatments affecting any part or function of the body.” Based on that definition, qualified medical expenses include many services from acupuncture to dental procedures to weight-loss programs. Prescription and non-prescription (over-the-counter) medications are included as well. However, expenses that are merely beneficial to general health, such as vitamins or vacations, do not qualify. In general, health insurance premiums do not qualify either.
