To: The United States House of Representatives and The United States Senate
Stand with the Sick: Keep the Medical Deduction
Paul Ryan just held a news conference and with a straight face hailed his achievement in passing legislation that strips millions of chronically ill taxpayers of their itemized deduction for medical expenses. Laughably, he boasts of closing a loophole. Our only hope rests with the Senate -- please sign my petition and do whatever it takes to pressure them not to abandon the sick!
Why is this important?
I am a 61-year-old female who is chronically ill with primary progressive MS. I am wheelchair-bound and require 24/7 aides to assist me with all activities of daily living.
On average, individuals suffering from serious, chronic illnesses like cancer, cystic fibrosis, and multiple sclerosis, spend between $50,000 to $100,000 annually on treatments and medications. Individual Americans, such as myself, rely on the availability of the itemized deduction on their tax return to help reduce the effect of their overwhelming medical expenses. The value of this deduction to those whose lives are already faced with serious challenges is not offset by any of the proposed tax cuts and increasing the standard deduction would not ease the burden for the very sick.
Nobody asks to be sick and it is demeaning to classify the itemization of medical expenses as a tax loophole. Maintaining this deduction should not fall prey to partisan politics. Special interest groups have the political and monetary clout to advocate on behalf of the preservation of deductions seen by them as useful to a particular industry.
Those of us who are faced with serious illnesses must advocate for ourselves. Eliminating the medical deduction is cruel and unjust and should not be a part of any tax reform legislation.