HR7884-119

What This Bill Does

The Healthcare is Human Act of 2026 creates an income-tax credit for licensed, registered, or certified health professionals who provide qualifying care at a qualifying facility. For each calendar month, the credit is $300 for more than 80 through 120 service hours, $400 for more than 120 through 160 hours, and $500 for more than 160 hours.

To receive any credit for a year, the professional must provide at least 80 hours of qualifying services in each of at least eight months. A month with exactly 80 hours helps satisfy that annual minimum but does not fall within a payment tier, each of which begins above 80 hours. The credit is unavailable when modified adjusted gross income exceeds $400,000 on a joint return or for a surviving spouse, or $200,000 for another filer.

Qualifying services include Medicare- or Medicaid-payable items and services, with listed exclusions, plus hospital, medical, or extended care delivered directly to veterans by VA clinicians or contracted non-VA providers. Exclusions cover durable-medical-equipment supplier services, personal care, consumer-directed assistance, fiscal intermediary services, and certain home-health or hospice work when the individual is not the rendering or billing provider of record.

A qualifying site is a VA medical facility or a provider located in a federal health-professional shortage area and enrolled in Medicare or Medicaid. The credit applies for taxable years 2026 through 2030 and then terminates.

GAO must report to Congress by June 30, 2030, on retention in shortage areas, care quality and continuity at VA facilities and contracted providers, rural or underserved VA staffing and access, and recommendations for improving or retargeting the credit.

Who Benefits and How

Eligible clinicians receive monthly tax relief tied to qualifying service hours. VA-employed clinicians and contracted VA providers qualify without the shortage-area location test applicable to non-VA providers. Medicare and Medicaid professionals in shortage areas gain a retention incentive. Veterans and patients in underserved communities may gain better access and continuity. Qualifying hospitals and clinics may find it easier to recruit or retain staff.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Clinicians must document monthly hours, licensure, covered services, facility status, income, and at least eight qualifying months. High-income professionals and excluded service categories receive no credit. Shortage-area providers must maintain Medicare or Medicaid enrollment. IRS administrators must verify tiered monthly claims and the 2030 sunset. VA, Medicare, and Medicaid records staff may need to support eligibility verification. GAO must evaluate outcomes by the statutory deadline, and federal tax accounts bear the credit cost.

Key Provisions

• Creates a tiered monthly health-professional tax credit.
• Requires at least eight months with 80 or more qualifying service hours.
• Limits qualifying non-VA work to shortage-area Medicare or Medicaid providers.
• Includes direct VA care and qualifying contracted veterans' care.
• Excludes specified personal-care, equipment, intermediary, and provider-of-record services.
• Denies the credit above specified income thresholds.
• Terminates the credit after taxable year 2030.
• Requires a GAO retention, access, quality, and targeting report by June 30, 2030.