WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Rob Portman (R-OH), Bill Nelson (D-FL), and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) reintroduced bipartisan legislation to help seniors with rising healthcare costs by maintaining the threshold to claim the medical expense tax deduction for seniors at the current rate of 7.5 percent of income for an additional two years. The Seniors Tax Hike Prevention Act would prevent the implementation of a higher tax threshold for seniors claiming medical cost deductions on their taxes. The higher threshold is set to take effect next tax filing season and could result in a higher tax bill for seniors.
“High health costs shouldn’t leave seniors making the impossible decision between putting gas in the car or food on the table and filling needed prescriptions,” said Brown. “Deducting the cost of going to the doctor and buying expensive prescription drugs is a bipartisan solution to help relieve the cost of healthcare for seniors.”
“The rising cost of health care is a critical issue for every American, but especially for seniors who live on fixed incomes,” Portman stated. “This bill provides important tax relief to help offset many of costly medical expenses that seniors are faced with.”
AARP has endorsed the legislation, saying the bill would help older Americans facing high healthcare costs.
“AARP supports this bipartisan bill that would help older Americans who face high health care costs,” said AARP CEO Jo Ann Jenkins. “We hope to see Congress follow the lead of Senators Brown and Portman by enacting legislation to prevent a tax hike on seniors with high medical costs.”
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