[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 636 Introduced in House (IH)]
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 636
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to improve health care
choice by providing for the tax deductibility of medical expenses by
individuals.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 23, 2007
Mrs. Bachmann (for herself, Mr. Akin, Mr. Bartlett of Maryland, Mrs.
Blackburn, Mr. Boustany, Mr. Burgess, Mr. Burton of Indiana, Mr.
Carter, Mr. Conaway, Mrs. Cubin, Mrs. Jo Ann Davis of Virginia, Mr.
Feeney, Mr. Franks of Arizona, Mr. Gingrey, Mr. Gillmor, Mr. Gohmert,
Mr. Graves, Mr. Hall of Texas, Mr. Walberg, Mr. Jones of North
Carolina, Mr. King of Iowa, Mr. McCotter, Mr. Miller of Florida, Mr.
Paul, Mr. Pence, Mr. Peterson of Pennsylvania, Mr. Radanovich, Mr.
Rohrabacher, Mr. Sensenbrenner, Mr. Sessions, Mr. Simpson, Mr. Terry,
Mr. Weller of Illinois, Mr. Young of Alaska, Mr. Rogers of Alabama, Mr.
Platts, Mr. Flake, and Mr. Weldon of Florida) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to improve health care
choice by providing for the tax deductibility of medical expenses by
individuals.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Health Care Freedom of Choice Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) Current law confers a tax benefit for health insurance
provided as an employee fringe benefit, but no similar tax
benefit for health insurance purchased by individuals.
Similarly, current law confers a tax benefit on third-party
payment of medical expenses, but no similar tax benefit for
most individuals' direct payment of medical expenses. This has
effectively promoted employer-provided third party payment
systems and effectively discouraged direct doctor-patient
relationships.
(2) The current tax treatment of medical expenses has
significantly curtailed competition for both health insurance
and health care services generally. This has effectively
increased the cost of health care and health insurance, which
in turn has exposed people to greater health risks and made it
more likely that individuals will go without needed care.
(3) The current tax treatment of medical expenses has
restricted the freedom of individuals to exercise direct
control over their health care dollars. The exclusion from
gross income for employer-provided health care plans with no
corresponding tax benefit for health insurance and health care
obtained by individuals (except the self-employed) constitutes
a strong preferment for health care provided through employers'
group plans as compared to health care that individuals
purchase for themselves. This is why 90 percent of Americans
under age 65 with private health insurance receive it through
their employer.
(4) Providing a tax benefit for employer-provided plans,
but not for individually-purchased health care, discriminates
against individuals who work for companies that do not provide
health benefits, individuals who are temporarily employed, and
the disabled.
(5) In many cases, employers are not able to offer their
employees a variety of health insurance plans. The Tax Code's
provision of benefits for mostly employer-provided health
insurance has discriminated against individuals who work for
these employers, especially small businesses. This is why 90
percent of American businesses that provide health insurance
offer employees the ``choice'' of only one health care plan.
Americans who work for businesses with fewer than 25 employees
are half as likely to have health coverage as those working for
companies with 1,000 or more employees.
(6) The Tax Code's preferment of employer-provided group
plans has triggered a marketplace response reflected in the
significant increases in large group health care delivery, and
the creation of a few health care conglomerates in lieu of
thousands of competitive providers of medical services and
health insurance. This has increasingly placed medical
decisions in the hands of health care bureaucracies, and
significantly eroded the doctor-patient relationship. Medical
decisions should be returned to doctors and their patients.
This will result in higher quality treatment and more patient
protection.
(7) Consumers should have the freedom to purchase the
health insurance of their choice, to choose their own doctors,
and to make their own decisions about their health care.
(8) By putting the medical choices made by individuals on
an equal footing with the medical choices made for them by
their employers and third parties, the Tax Code can encourage
greater choice and competition, thereby reducing the cost of
necessary insurance for all Americans. This will enable
millions more Americans to obtain needed health coverage, to
make their own choices about which doctors to see, and to have
access to the quality care they deserve and expect.
SEC. 3. TAX DEDUCTIBILITY OF MEDICAL EXPENSES FOR INDIVIDUALS.
(a) In General.--Section 213(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986 (relating to the treatment of medical and dental expenses) is
amended to read as follows:
``(a) Allowance of Deduction.--There shall be allowed as a
deduction the expenses paid during the taxable year, not compensated
for by insurance or otherwise, for medical care of the taxpayer, the
taxpayer's spouse, or a dependent (as defined in section 152,
determined without regard to subsections (b)(1), (b)(2), and (d)(1)(B)
thereof).''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall
apply to taxable years beginning after the calendar year which includes
the date of the enactment of this Act.
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