Medical expenses for you, your spouse or
your dependents may qualify for hardship distribution. Generally any
medical expenses that are considered by the IRS to be a deductible
medical expense will qualify for a hardship distribution. Complete the Worksheet for Hardship Withdrawal for Medical Expenses
A. You may receive a hardship distribution for the following items:
- Operations/treatment affecting any part of the body
- Obstetrical expenses
- Therapy
- X-ray treatments
- Hospital
services
- Nursing
services
- Medical
services
- Laboratory services
- Surgical
services
- Dental
services
- Diagnostic services
- Healing
services
- Medicine
and drugs, if legally procured
- Artificial teeth
- Artificial limbs
- Ambulance hire
- Lodging
(while away from home primarily for and essential to medical care,
limited to $50 per night)
- Transportation for and essential to receipt of medical care
- Eyeglasses
- Seeing
eye dog
- Wheelchair
- Crutches
- Inclinator
- Air
conditioner, detachable from property and purchased only for the use of
a sick person
- Capital
expenditures, operation and maintenance for permanent improvement or
betterment of the property advised by a physician (example, an elevator
for an afflicted individual), limited to the difference between the
increase in property value due to the improvement and the cost of
installing the improvement.
- Attendance at a special school for a mentally or physically handicapped
individual
- Qualified
long-term care services defined as: necessary diagnostic, preventative,
therapeutic, curing, treating, mitigating, and rehabilitative services,
and maintenance or personal care services, that are required by a
chronically ill person as certified by a healthcare practitioner. An
individual is “chronically ill” if he/she is unable to perform at least
2 activities of daily living (e.g., eating, toileting, transferring,
bathing, dressing, and continence); or requires substantial supervision
to protect the individual’s health and safety due to severe cognitive
impairment.
- Premium
payments under a qualified long-term care insurance contract. The
payment of these premiums is limited to the following amounts:
| Age before the Close of the Taxable Year |
The Annual Limitation is: |
| 40 or
less |
$200 |
| More
than 40 but not more than 50 |
$375 |
| More
than 50 but not more than 60 |
$750 |
| More
than 60 but not more than 70 |
$2,000 |
| More than 70 |
$2,500 |
Indexing: For any taxable year after
2009, each of the above dollar amounts shall be increased by the medical
care cost adjustment (as prescribed by the Treasury Secretary) each
calendar year. Any increase that is not a multiple of 10, shall be
rounded to the nearest multiple of 10.
- Medical insurance premiums
- Cobra premiums
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B. You cannot receive a hardship distribution for the following Medical Care Expenses:
- Amounts expensed for illegal operations/treatments
- Toiletries, cosmetics, or sundry items
- Expenditures beneficial to the general health (i.e., vacations, hot tub,
swimming pool)
- Capital
expenditures, in general, except as described in “A” above.
- Insurance policies providing indemnity against loss of income or for loss of life,
limb, sight
- Expenses for surgery solely for cosmetic reasons.
C. Documentation - If you request a
hardship distribution for medical expenses, you must have documentation
to support your request. HRSA-ILA requires that this documentation be
attached to your application. If you cannot produce the documentation
to substantiate your hardship request, your application will be denied.
The following documentation is acceptable:
1. Some Medical Care Expenses are paid for by your insurance company.
Others are not.For the portion of those Medical Care Expenses that
your insurance company will not pay (unreimbursed qualifying Medical
Care expenses):
- Bill for service
- Explanation of Benefits for each bill submitted indicating:
- Service rendered that qualifies as a Medical Care expense
- Date of such service
- Amount of coverage paid
- Amount currently owed
- If you cannot produce an Explanation of Benefits, you must obtain a copy from
the insurance company. If the company cannot provide a copy, you may
obtain a copy of the medical history with respect to the service
rendered, including any amount paid by the insurance company.
2. Some Medical Care Expenses will not be covered at all by your insurance
company. For qualifying Medical Care expenses for treatment not covered
by the Participant’s insurance policy:
-
Explanation of Benefits evidencing a denial of coverage; or
-
A letter from the insurance company stating that no Explanation of Benefits is
available.
3. If
you are required to prepay certain Medical Care Expenses at the time you receive treatment:
-
Estimate of the cost for the procedure from the insurance company
- Letter from the medical professional stating that payment is required either in
advance or at the time of the procedure.
4. If you will be paying for
your Medical Care Expenses in installments:
-
Explanation of Benefits evidencing the service rendered and that the
lifetime maximum permitted by the insurance company has been reached.
-
A current bill showing the remaining amount to be paid.
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Click Here
to access complete request
package for a
hardship withdrawal for
unreimbursed medical expenses.
Medical Care | Home Purchase | Burial Expenses | Education Expenses | Eviction or Forclosure | Casualty Repair