S 653 United States Senate · 119th Congress

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.

This bill changes the tax code to allow individuals to deduct payments to health care sharing ministries (HCSMs) as medical expenses, similar to traditional health insurance costs. It directly affects people enrolled in HCSMs - groups that share medical costs among members without being regulated as insurance. The bill adds HCSM membership fees and shared medical expenses to the list of deductible medical costs under Section 213(d)(1) of the tax code and clarifies that HCSMs are not treated as health insurance or health plans. These changes would take effect for tax years starting in 2026.
Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Floor Vote
President
Introduced Feb 20, 2025 Last action Feb 20, 2025
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Full legislative history

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Total actions
2
Key actions
0
Committee
1
Feb 20, 2025
Committee
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
upper
Feb 20, 2025
Introduced
Introduced in Senate
upper
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Ted Budd
Ted Budd
RRepublican
NC
n/a