By the time my first child was born three years ago, the out-of-pocket expenses we had piled up considerably. And after that, they just kept on growing at an alarming rate. Not that we were spending extravagantly, having opulent baby showers or buying pricey organic baby food. But still...when you add up all the basic necessities for your New Infant Starter Kit, it can be a pretty penny. And it turns out that you can be hit with items that are unexpectedly expensive. Case in point: a breast pump.
My wife and I were quite puzzled by the fact that a breast pump was neither a medical device covered by insurance companies nor a qualified tax deduction. The former didn't make sense because she had been using an infusion pump that delivered heparin, an anti-coagulant that was prescribed during pregnancy due to her earlier diagnosis of antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). As the device and drug were deemed medically necessary, our insurance company covered 80% of the rental fee on the pump and the drug prescriptions were very low-cost.
The lack of tax consideration for breast pumps was also odd to us. Yes, non-reimbursed medical expenses can be itemized as a general deduction on your IRS tax return. But medical expenses are not deductible until they exceed 7.5% of adjusted gross income. The breast pump cost us close to $300 initially, and the supplies needed came close to $700 by the time he reached his first year. So realistically, most families can incur this expense in the same year that other related costs are accumulating. In our case, the total amount of related spending we had by the time of our son's first birthday put us over the top for that standard deduction. The same probably applies for most new middle-class parents as well.
That's why some really good news went public under the radar last week: the IRS will now consider breast pumps to be a tax-deductible expense this filing year.
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