cord blood banking

[Guest kristinlobell]

We have an employee that is interested in banking the cord blood of their child? Do you think that this would qualify as reimbursable under the medical reimbursement plan? Any help would be appreciated.

[Mary C]

This was discussed in the past on this site and I think may have a "Q&A" entry.

IRS rulings say if the blood is banked because of a visible illness or disease, then the expenses are reimbursable. If it is banked only as a "just in case" situation and there is no disease or illness present, then the expenses are not reimbursable.

[Lori Friedman]

You might want to take a look at PLR 200140017, which describes a very similar situation. A taxpayer incurred expenses to collect and store DNA. The IRS ruled that the expenses were not, in and of themselves, deductible medical costs. If the DNA were used for diagnostic or treatment purposes, however, the expenses would be deductible.