ATTENTION ALL SELF PAYS!!!

Did you know that you can deduct a percentage of the cost of your surgery (and any travel cost associated with it) on your taxes? Keep your receipts and present them when you file your taxes. If you had your surgery in the past three years and did not claim the deduction, you can do an amendment for the taxes from the year that you paid for your surgery. If you took an early withdrawal from a retirement plan to pay for your surgery, you are allowed a tax break on the early withdrawal penalty. As a matter of fact, all health care premiums and copays that come out of your pocket (to include dental and vision) are deductable. The mileage that you travel (roundtrip) for dr appointments and prescription pickup are deductable. Anything that your employer pays or reimburses you for is not deductable, but if you pay it you get a tax break at the end of the year. Hope this helps someone.

Yes, I included my surgery and travel expenses among my deductibles that year.  In fact to maximize my medical deductibles for that year, I pulled together all deductible medical expenses (which I normally don't bother with because, as you say, it's only a percentage) such as my health insurance premiums, co-pays for doctor visits and prescriptions, etc.  Helped a lot!  :-)