Cliff Stearns: “Today I plan to introduce a bill to allow health insurance premiums and unreimbursed prescription drug expense to be tax…”

“Today I plan to introduce a bill to allow health insurance premiums and unreimbursed prescription drug expense to be tax deductible. Under current law, employers can write off the cost of health care coverage purchased for their employees. Why cannot individuals also be allowed the same opportunity to write off premiums and unreimbursed prescription drug expenses? The current Tax Code sets the threshold at 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income before an individual can write off their medical expenses. This does not seem right to me. Currently in order to claim health care expenses, an individual must file an itemized tax return. I believe that all taxpayers should be allowed to deduct these out-of-pocket expenses, and we need to include a place where this deduction could be taken on the short form, such as a 1040EZ and 1040A. My bill also applies to the self-employed, because individuals who are self-employed will not be eligible for a 100 percent write-off until the year 2003. This type of relief is long overdue. Allowing individuals to write off certain costly health care expenses they may incur would be a tremendous benefit to them. The National Taxpayers Union supports my bill. I urge my colleagues to cosponsor my bill.”