Aim higher, reach farther.  How Health Costs Can Lower Tax Bills
With Unemployment Surging, More May Qualify for Medical Expense
Deduction; Writing Off the Swimming Pool  This may be the year
to take a tax deduction for medical expenses.  This write-off
has long been one of the least useful for most taxpayers because
medical costs have to be a significant percentage of income to
be deductible. But this year the economy's convulsions have left
an estimated 16% of the U.S. work force—25 million
people—unemployed or underemployed. And many are digging into
their own pockets to cover medical bills, insurance premiums or
Cobra payments. Meanwhile health costs have surged, even for
those with coverage. The upshot is that more people are likely
to qualify to take it than in the past.  Accountants are paying
attention. "With health-care costs rising, the medical deduction
is worth looking at, especially if a taxpayer's income has gone
down," says Danny Snow, an accountant with Thompson Dunavant in
Memphis.  In the p