Another Health Insurance Question

[wdmmom]

My husband works for a small privately owned business. He is paid salary and receives health insurance. The tricky part behind this is: The company pays the dues directly to the insurance company but it's considered part of his salary. They don't show any money being issued out on his pay stubs nor do they tax this income.

Can we still claim this since essentially we are paying for it?

We were told that if we opt out of the health coverage, then they would consider it income and tax it.

I'm confused.

[TomCopeland]

You can't claim this insurance as a business or personal expense or credit. You got the insurance as a non-taxed benefit, so you can't claim another tax deduction on top of this. You didn't pay for this insurance. It's considered part of his benefits package and is not taxed.

If you opted out of health insurance coverage and they paid your husband more in salary, you would owe taxes on the extra income.