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.

II119th CONGRESS1st SessionS. 653IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATESFebruary 20, 2025Mr. Budd introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on FinanceA BILLTo 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.