Community Chat

[coffee drinker]

I'm hoping someone can help.  Is there any reason to keep ALL the medical paperwork I have accumulated?  It's paperwork from Medicare, hospitals stays and other supplemental insurances.  All of these statements fill 1 banker's box. They are from my late husband who has passed 3 years ago.  I have not had to  refer to anything and my brother said to just get rid of it because everything is on line.  Good suggestion, but if I have to refer to anything, I feel much better looking at a piece of paper instead of going through page after page if on-line statements.    

[PinkyPetunia]

Get rid of it.  If it's been 3 years and you haven't used it, you won't need it anymore.   

[SilleeMee]

You can snap pictures of documents, load them onto a laptop and then transfer them to a flash drive, or other hard drive storage devices, for safekeeping or use cloud storage which is another paperless storage option.

[skatting44]

If you used the  receipts as an itemized medical deductions instead of just taking a standard deduction.

 Keeping records 5 yrs was what was once recommend incase you are audited. 

[We rescue cats]

We keep financial records 7 years, DH is an accountant so he is fussy about this. However I kept some of my personal records from birth (citizenship, adoption, etc.)

[Carmie]

I normally just throw out EOMB's ( explanations of Medicare benefit statements) and EOB's from supplement insurance  as soon as I have looked at them and made sure the services are paid for.

There is no reason to keep them and you can always get a duplicate copy if you would need to, which would be rare.

They serve no purpose except to tell you a service has been paid or denied.  You would never need them for tax purposes.

There is no reason to keep them, but insurance companies are required by law to send them.

[gidgetgh]

I don't keep any of it. When it comes in, I glance at it briefly and then shred it right then.

[FranandZoe]

I'd shred them.  I shredded all of my husband's a few years after he passed away.

I don't get paper anything of my own.  

Funny story - my Mom moved out of her house in 2007 - I was cleaning it out and in my grandmother's bedroom in a chest of drawers drawer I found Medicare paperwork of hers.  My grandmother died in 1974.  My Mom kept everything lol.

[Q-Checker]

It might be helpful to retain EOB's if you take medical expenses for a tax deduction and are audited.

[Carmie]

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@Q-Checker wrote:

It might be helpful to retain EOB's if you take medical expenses for a tax deduction and are audited.

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EOB's are not used for tax purposes.  They show what insurance paid or did not pay.

They do not show any amount that you might have paid out of pocket.  You would need checks or receipts for tax purposes.