[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 653 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 653

  To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to treat membership in a 
   health care sharing ministry as a medical expense, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 20, 2025

   Mr. Budd introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
                  referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to treat membership in a 
   health care sharing ministry as a medical expense, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. TREATMENT OF HEALTH CARE SHARING MINISTRIES AS A MEDICAL 
              EXPENSE AND NOT AS INSURANCE.

    (a) Treatment as a Medical Expense.--Section 213(d)(1) of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ``or'' at the end 
of subparagraph (C), by striking the period at the end of subparagraph 
(D) and inserting ``, or'', and by adding at the end the following new 
subparagraph:
                    ``(E) for membership in a health care sharing 
                ministry (as defined in section 5000A(d)(2)(B)(ii) 
                without regard to subclause (IV) thereof), including--
                            ``(i) the sharing of medical expenses with 
                        respect to such ministry, and
                            ``(ii) the payment of administrative fees 
                        of such ministry.''.
    (b) Health Care Sharing Ministry Not Treated as a Health Plan or 
Insurance.--
            (1) In general.--Chapter 79 of the Internal Revenue Code of 
        1986 is amended by inserting after section 7702B the following 
        new section:

``SEC. 7702C. TREATMENT OF HEALTH CARE SHARING MINISTRIES.

    ``For purposes of this title, a health care sharing ministry (as 
defined in section 5000A(d)(2)(B)(ii) without regard to subclause (IV) 
thereof) shall not be treated as a health plan or as insurance.''.
            (2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 
        79 of such Code is amended by inserting after the item relating 
        to section 7702B the following new item:

``Sec. 7702C. Treatment of health care sharing ministries.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025.
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