Congress quietly subsidizes faith-based health sharing, exempts from insurance rules

What it does

This bill allows people to deduct membership fees and medical expense-sharing payments to health care sharing ministries (religious or faith-based cost-sharing groups) as medical expenses on their taxes, the same way they can deduct insurance premiums and out-of-pocket medical costs. It also explicitly states that these ministries are not insurance or health plans for tax purposes, which shields them from insurance regulations and requirements.

Why we flagged it

The bill's operative mechanism is a tax deduction for a specific category of health-cost sharing (faith-based ministries), coupled with an explicit regulatory exemption. It is not a broad health-care reform or consumer protection; it is a targeted tax preference for a narrow constituency.

What the text implies

• Health care sharing ministries are not required to maintain solvency reserves, deny claims transparently, or provide appeals processes — members have no legal recourse if the ministry fails to pay. The tax deduction may incentivize enrollment in unregulated cost-sharing arrangements.
• The deduction is available only to members of qualifying sharing ministries, not to uninsured individuals or those in other cost-sharing arrangements, creating a tax preference that favors faith-based alternatives to insurance.
• By classifying sharing ministries as non-insurance, the bill exempts them from state insurance regulation, federal health-plan requirements (e.g., mental health parity, preventive care coverage), and the Affordable Care Act's consumer protections.
• The effective date (tax years beginning after December 31, 2025) means the deduction is retroactively available for 2026 tax filings, potentially creating a rush to enroll in sharing ministries before the 2026 tax year closes.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

The tax deduction provides a modest benefit to members of health care sharing ministries (primarily religious/faith-based groups), reducing their out-of-pocket costs. However, the regulatory exemption means these ministries face no insurance-law requirements (coverage mandates, solvency standards, consumer protections, appeals processes), creating asymmetric risk: members get a tax break but lose legal recourse if the ministry fails to pay claims or becomes insolvent. The bill also narrows the u

Who stands to gain

• health care sharing ministries
• members of faith-based cost-sharing groups

Named in the bill

Internal Revenue Code of 1986, Section 213(d)(1), Section 5000A(d)(2)(B)(ii), Chapter 79, Section 7702B, Section 7702C, health care sharing ministries, House Committee on Ways and Means

Where it stands

9 cosponsors: 9 Republicans.

• Mar 11, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Mar 11, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

2 lobbying clients named this bill on 3 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $90,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 2 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 41% of bills with at least one filing.

Mike Kelly, the sponsor, reported $955,974 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• Liberty Healthshare — $60,000 on 2 filings
• Solidarity Healthshare — $30,000 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 9, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.