<p>Is there a dollar amount medical expenses have to reach to file for special circumstances based on medical costs ? I am not sure how they define "high".</p>
<p>Can before-tax payroll deducted health insurance costs be included in the figure or can only after tax payroll deducted health insurance costs be used ?</p>
<p>How does your medical expense total get adjusted ?
If my EFC is 10520 and my medical expenses total 4000 what type of adjustment would I get? Is it a dollar for dollar adjustment or a percentage of my expenses, etc.</p>
<p>Thanks,
Peace12182</p>
<p>No it is definitely not dollar for dollar to the EFC. If an adjustment is approved by the school then they go in and reduce your income on FAFSA.The new FAFSA is then run through the EFC formula to produce a new EFC. The impact will depend on what your total income is as the % of income that goes to the EFC varies according to income. It can be from around 16% up to a high of 47%. </p>
<p>We had a special circumstances adjustment for medical bills 3 years ago. As far as I can recall the medical expenses have to exceed the amount already allowed in the protected income allowance for medical expenses. Then the adjustment to income is limited to the amount by which your medical expenses exceed the allowance for medical expenses already in the protected income allowance. So say your income protection allowance already included $1800 for medical. Your medical expenses of $4000 are $2200 higher than the allowance so the $2200 is the maximum they are supposed to adjust income by.When the new numbers are run through the EFC formula the reduction of income would have an impact of between 16% to 47% of the $2200 (352 to 1034) on your EFC.</p>
<p>Our medical bills were over $10,000 and I think they had an impact of maybe $2000 ish on the EFC.</p>
<p>If I remember correctly, Before tax insurance deductions can not be included in an adjustment.</p>
<p>finaid has a good explanation.
<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid;
<p>op I appealed with 4k too. Ours was estimation coupled with documents for about 7 out of the 12 months (the other documents were not available to us). I’ll tell you how it went for me when I get my appeal back. however, we also talked about the fact that my dad lost his job so it might not be helpful. 4k is a lot for our family though especially for medical bills.</p>
<p>There is a medical expense allowance in the EFC formula already. 11% of the income protection allowance is for medical expenses, so any adjustments made by an administrator can only be made after subtracting the allowance that is already in the formula. You can google the 2010-11 EFC formula & get your income protection allowance from the tables.</p>
<p>Update :</p>
<p>We have been notified by the school’s fin aid office that our medical documentation was reviewed and our EFC was changed from 10,520 to 10,033</p>
<p>wow that’s pathetic. seriously 500</p>