WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Alex X. Mooney reintroduced the Protecting Life in Health Savings Accounts Act (H.R 8049). This legislation would end the preferential tax treatment of abortion by prohibiting the life-taking procedure from being counted as an eligible medical procedure and exclude elective abortions from being paid for out of various types of health savings accounts. Abortion is not health care and should not be considered a medical expense.
Seven House Republicans joined the bill as original cosponsors: Reps. Matt Rosendale, Jeff Duncan, Mary Miller, Dan Crenshaw, Paul Gosar, Bob Good, and Daniel Webster.
Senator Mike Lee introduced this legislation in the Senate.
“The sanctity of life continues to be under assault by President Joe Biden’s Administration. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has made it easier to acquire abortion pills by mail. Post offices are being converted into local abortion clinics. The radical pro-abortion movement is doing anything they can to keep access to abortion as easy and frequent as possible,” said Congressman Alex X. Mooney.
“Protecting life is one of my top priorities in Congress. Abortion should not be paid for by the taxpayer and should not hold any special privileges when it comes to tax incentives,” Mooney added.
Background: Federal law allows individuals to use tax-advantaged funds in health savings accounts (HSAs), flexible savings accounts (FSAs), health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs), Archer medical savings accounts (MSAs), and retiree health accounts to cover their medical expenses. These accounts allow users to set aside money on a pre-tax basis to pay for qualified medical expenses. These accounts can help pay for deductibles, copays, and medical procedures.
Unfortunately, the IRS categorizes elective abortions as an eligible medical expense to be paid using these tax-advantaged savings accounts. The Protecting Life in Health Savings Accounts is the House companion to legislation introduced by Senator Mike Lee of Utah in the United States Senate.