Travel for Care Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3132 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exclude employer-reimbursed travel expenses for abortion-related care from taxation, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 9, 2023 Mr. BLUMENAUER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Education and the Workforce, and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider- ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exclude employer-reimbursed travel expenses for abortion-related care from taxation, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Travel for Care Act’’. 4 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3132.IH H3132 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3132 IH SEC. 2. TAX TREATMENT OF ABORTION-RELATED TRAVEL 1 ARRANGEMENTS. 2 (a) AMENDMENTS TO THE INTERNAL REVENUE 3 CODE OF 1986.— 4 (1) EXCEPTION FROM GROUP HEALTH PLAN 5 REQUIREMENTS FOR ABORTION-RELATED TRAVEL 6 ARRANGEMENTS.—Section 9831 of the Internal Rev- 7 enue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end 8 the following new subsection: 9 ‘‘(e) EXCEPTION FOR ABORTION-RELATED TRAVEL 10 ARRANGEMENTS.— 11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this title 12 (and notwithstanding any other provision of this 13 title), the term ‘group health plan’ shall not include 14 any abortion-related travel arrangement. 15 ‘‘(2) ABORTION-RELATED TRAVEL ARRANGE- 16 MENT.—For purposes of this section, the term 17 ‘abortion-related travel arrangement’ means an ar- 18 rangement which— 19 ‘‘(A) is funded by an employer, and 20 ‘‘(B) provides for the payment of, or reim- 21 bursement of, an employee for expenses in- 22 curred by the employee or the family members 23 of such employee (as determined under the 24 terms of the arrangement) for travel, including 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3132.IH H3132 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3132 IH meals and lodging, to receive an abortion or fol- 1 low-up care related to such abortion.’’. 2 (2) MEALS AND LODGING RELATED TO TRAVEL 3 FOR ABORTION-RELATED MEDICAL CARE INCLUDED 4 AS AMOUNTS PAID FOR MEDICAL CARE; INCREASED 5 LIMITATION FOR SUCH AMOUNTS.—Section 213(d) 6 of such Code is amended— 7 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 8 the end of subparagraph (C), by striking the 9 period at the end of subparagraph (D) and in- 10 serting ‘‘, or’’, and by adding at the end the fol- 11 lowing new subparagraph: 12 ‘‘(E) in the case of an abortion or follow- 13 up care related to an abortion, for meals and 14 lodging while away from home primarily for and 15 essential to such care if there is no significant 16 element of personal pleasure, recreation, or va- 17 cation in the travel away from home.’’, and 18 (B) in paragraph (2)— 19 (i) in the heading, by striking 20 ‘‘AMOUNTS PAID FOR CERTAIN LODGING 21 AWAY FROM HOME TREATED AS PAID FOR 22 MEDICAL CARE’’ and inserting ‘‘SPECIAL 23 RULES FOR LODGING AND MEALS’’, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3132.IH H3132 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3132 IH (ii) by redesignating subparagraphs 1 (A) and (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respec- 2 tively, 3 (iii) by striking ‘‘Amounts paid for 4 lodging’’ and inserting: 5 ‘‘(A) AMOUNTS PAID FOR CERTAIN LODG- 6 ING AWAY FROM HOME TREATED AS PAID FOR 7 MEDICAL CARE.—Amounts paid for lodging 8 other than lodging described in paragraph 9 (1)(E)’’, and 10 (iv) by adding at the end the following 11 new subparagraph: 12 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION ON AMOUNTS TAKEN 13 INTO ACCOUNT FOR MEALS AND LODGING RE- 14 LATED TO ABORTION-RELATED MEDICAL 15 CARE.—In the case of amounts paid for meals 16 and lodging as described in subparagraph (E) 17 of paragraph (1), the amount taken into ac- 18 count under such subparagraph shall not ex- 19 ceed, with respect to each night and each indi- 20 vidual, the maximum per diem rates for official 21 Federal Government travel published annually 22 by the General Services Administration, the De- 23 partment of State, and the Department of De- 24 fense.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:17 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3132.IH H3132 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3132 IH (3) ABORTION-RELATED TRAVEL ARRANGE- 1 MENTS DISREGARDED FOR PURPOSES OF HEALTH 2 SAVINGS ACCOUNT ELIGIBILITY.—Section 3 223(c)(1)(B)(ii) of such Code is amended by striking 4 ‘‘or’’ after ‘‘long-term care,’’ and by inserting ‘‘or 5 coverage under an abortion-related travel arrange- 6 ment (as defined in section 9831(e)(2)),’’ after 7 ‘‘other remote care,’’. 8 (4) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 9 by this subsection shall apply to amounts paid or in- 10 curred after June 23, 2022. 11 (b) AMENDMENTS TO THE EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT 12 INCOME SECURITY ACT OF 1974.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 733(a)(1) of the 14 Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 15 (29 U.S.C. 1191b(a)(1)) is amended by inserting 16 ‘‘or any abortion-related travel arrangement (as de- 17 fined in section 9831(e)(2) of such Code)’’ before 18 the period at the end. 19 (2) EXCEPTION FROM CONTINUATION COV- 20 ERAGE REQUIREMENTS, ETC.—Section 607(1) of 21 such Act (29 U.S.C. 1167(1)) is amended by insert- 22 ing ‘‘or any abortion-related travel arrangement (as 23 defined in section 9831(e)(2) of such Code)’’ before 24 the period at the end. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3132.IH H3132 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3132 IH (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 1 by this subsection shall apply to plan years begin- 2 ning after June 23, 2022. 3 (c) AMENDMENTS TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE 4 ACT.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 2791(a)(1) of the 6 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg– 7 91(a)(1)) is amended by inserting ‘‘or any abortion- 8 related travel arrangement (as defined in section 9 9831(e)(2) of such Code)’’ before the period at the 10 end. 11 (2) EXCEPTION FROM CONTINUATION COV- 12 ERAGE REQUIREMENTS.—Section 2208(1) of the 13 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300bb–8(1)) is 14 amended by inserting ‘‘or any abortion-related travel 15 arrangement (as defined in section 9831(e)(2) of 16 such Code)’’ before the period at the end. 17 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 18 by this subsection shall apply to plan years begin- 19 ning after June 23, 2022. 20 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:16 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3132.IH H3132 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3132 IH SEC. 3. SAFE HARBOR FOR ABSENCE OF DEDUCTIBLE FOR 1 CONTRACEPTION, ABORTION, AND ABOR- 2 TION-RELATED EXPENSES. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 223(c)(2) of the Internal 4 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end 5 the following new subparagraph: 6 ‘‘(H) SAFE HARBOR FOR ABSENCE OF DE- 7 DUCTIBLE FOR CONTRACEPTION, ABORTION, 8 AND ABORTION-RELATED EXPENSES.—A plan 9 shall not fail to be treated as a high deductible 10 health plan by reason of failing to have a de- 11 ductible for contraception, abortion, or abor- 12 tion-related travel expenses described in section 13 9831(e)(2).’’. 14 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 15 this subsection shall apply to plan years beginning after 16 June 23, 2022. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3132.IH H3132 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS