It’ll start home hemo (NxStage) in a month and wonder about installing backup power (auto start, propane fuel). Could this be a valid, tax deductible as medical expense? Any opion is welcome. It would cost me about $5000.
I wonder if you could convince them that it’s a medical expense. In daily hemodialysis, you don’t really need it, to be honest, because it’s not a big deal to miss a treatment or part of it, since you’re doing it almost every day. If the power goes down, you just take yourself off and wait for your next treatment.
If anyone else is reading this, just to satisfy my curiosity, does the NxStage have a hand crank that can be used to turn the blood pump in order to rinse back when there’s a power outage, or do you have to abandon your blood circuit?
Pierre
I doubt it, I think that’s not covered…but just maybe depending where you live…perhaps the sierras? 
As for returning blood back with a NxStage, no crank needed here…just twist the saline bag and shout! …oh ya “Twist and Shout!” 8)
I’d ask a tax accountant or the IRS (if you’re in the U.S) about whether someone who does a life-saving treatment at home can claim a generator as a medical deduction. I would think that this and the home modifications for home hemodialysis that you pay for would be tax deductible in full or in part.
According to Publication 502 at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p502.pdf (a worksheet is available too):
Capital Expenses
[i]You can include in medical expenses amounts you pay for special equipment installed in a home, or for improvements, if their main purpose is medical care for you, your spouse, or your dependent. The cost of permanent improvements that increase the value of your property may be partly included as a medical expense. The cost of the improvement is reduced by the increase in the value of your property. The difference is a medical expense. If the value of your property is not increased by the improvement, the entire cost is included as a medical expense.
Certain improvements made to accommodate a home to your disabled condition, or that of your spouse or your dependents who live with you, do not usually increase the value of the home and the cost can be included in full as medical expenses. These improvements include, but are not limited to, the following items.
• Constructing entrance or exit ramps for your home.
• Widening doorways at entrances or exits to your home.
• Widening or otherwise modifying hallways and interior doorways.
• Installing railings, support bars, or other modifications to bathrooms.
• Lowering or modifying kitchen cabinets and equipment.
• Moving or modifying electrical outlets and fixtures.
• Installing porch lifts and other forms of lifts (but elevators generally add value to the house).
• Modifying fire alarms, smoke detectors, and other warning systems.
• Modifying stairways.
• Adding handrails or grab bars anywhere (whether or not in bathrooms).
• Modifying hardware on doors.
• Modifying areas in front of entrance and exit doorways.
• Grading the ground to provide access to the residence.
Only reasonable costs to accommodate a home to a disabled condition are considered medical care. Additional costs for personal motives, such as for architectural or aesthetic reasons, are not medical expenses.[/i]
Maybe you could use the generator as a tax deduction but I rather doubt it.
For one thing I don’t think you could get the center to say it was required for Medical purposes. In the event of electric outage one can always come off the machine or go in-center for a backup treatment. Our center will only let people run off certain kinds of generators if there is a power outage. The generator we currently have is great if you know ahead of time your going to need electric. It is run off naturnal gas and once started will run until we turn it off. However, if the electric goes out during a treatment it takes about 10 minutes for us to get to it and start it. In the winter it could take a little longer getting through the snow etc. Within the next 2 weeks we hope to have installed a generator which automatically comes on within 2 mins. after a power outage and automatically shuts off after the power comes back. But no way would our center say this was required medical equipment it’s a convenience.