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.
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill changes the tax treatment of health care sharing ministries. It amends section 213(d)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code so membership in a health care sharing ministry, including shared medical expenses and administrative fees, counts as medical care for federal tax purposes. It also creates new section 7702C, which states that a health care sharing ministry is not treated as a health plan or insurance for purposes of the tax title. The amendments apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025. In practice, members who itemize or otherwise use medical-expense tax rules could treat ministry payments more like medical expenses, while ministries gain a clearer federal tax distinction from insurance products.
Who Benefits and How
Health care sharing ministry members benefit because membership payments, shared medical expenses, and administrative fees can count as medical care for tax purposes. Health care sharing ministries benefit because the tax code would say they are not health plans or insurance. Tax preparers serving ministry members benefit from a clearer statutory rule for post-2025 returns. People choosing non-insurance health cost-sharing arrangements benefit if tax treatment makes those arrangements less costly.
Who Bears the Burden and How
The IRS must update medical-expense deduction guidance, forms, and examination rules for health care sharing ministry payments. Treasury Department officials must administer a new section 7702C distinction between ministries and insurance. Federal taxpayers bear revenue loss if more ministry payments qualify as deductible medical care. Insurance-market regulators may face more consumer confusion because the tax code would explicitly say these ministries are not insurance.
Key Provisions
- Amends section 213 so health care sharing ministry membership payments count as medical care.
- Provides that shared medical expenses and administrative fees tied to ministry membership are included.
- Creates section 7702C stating that a health care sharing ministry is not treated as a health plan or insurance for tax purposes.
- Applies the changes to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Treats health care sharing ministry membership payments, shared medical expenses, and administrative fees as deductible medical care under Internal Revenue Code section 213 and provides that such ministries are not treated as health plans or insurance for federal tax purposes beginning after 2025.
Key Policy Areas
Tax, Health Care, Health Insurance
Primary Purpose
Treats health care sharing ministry membership payments, shared medical expenses, and administrative fees as deductible medical care under Internal Revenue Code section 213 and provides that such ministries are not treated as health plans or insurance for federal tax purposes beginning after 2025.
Policy Domains
Resolution provisions
Identified Gains
- Health care sharing ministry members
- Health care sharing ministries
- Tax preparers serving ministry members
- Non-insurance health cost-sharing participants
Identified Costs
- Internal Revenue Service
- Treasury Department
- Federal taxpayers
- Insurance-market regulators
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMr. Kelly of Pennsylvania (for himself, Mr. Murphy, and Mr. …
Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Health care sharing ministries, Health care sharing ministry members
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
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