S. 653

119 S653 IS: 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.
 U.S. Senate
 2025-02-20
 text/xml
 EN
 Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
 II  119th CONGRESS  1st Session  S. 653  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.
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:
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.