The Patient Fairness Act of 2025 modifies health savings accounts to increase contribution limits, allow deductions for all contributions, and codifies hospital price transparency regulations.
Warren Davidson
Representative
OH-8
The Patient Fairness Act of 2025 expands health savings account (HSA) benefits by increasing contribution limits, removing restrictions on who can contribute and how funds can be used, and allowing penalty-free transfers to relatives after death. The act also codifies existing regulations mandating hospital price transparency into law. These changes aim to increase individual control over healthcare spending and ensure consumers have access to price information. The HSA provisions take effect for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025.
Patient Fairness Act Boosts HSA Limits to $8K, Removes Hurdles After 2025; Makes Hospital Pricing Rules Permanent
The Patient Fairness Act of 2025 proposes significant changes to Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and formally locks in existing hospital price transparency rules. Effective for tax years starting after December 31, 2025, this bill alters who can benefit from HSAs and how much they can save, while also making current federal regulations requiring hospitals to disclose their prices permanent law.
Supercharging Your Health Savings Account
Section 2 of the bill introduces several key modifications to HSAs. First, it removes the requirement that you must be an 'eligible individual' (typically meaning someone enrolled in a high-deductible health plan) to deduct your HSA contributions from your taxes. It also eliminates restrictions on using HSA funds to purchase health coverage, meaning you could potentially use tax-advantaged HSA money for premiums beyond just high-deductible plans.
The bill significantly increases annual contribution limits: up to $8,000 for an individual, plus an additional $3,000 for each dependent. Those aged 55 and older get an extra boost, with their additional catch-up contribution limit also rising by $3,000. For example, a family with two dependents could potentially contribute $14,000 ($8,000 + $3,000 + $3,000) tax-free per year, before any age-related catch-up contributions. While this offers greater savings potential, the higher limits primarily benefit those with the financial capacity to make larger contributions. Lastly, it clarifies that if an HSA owner passes away, relatives receiving the funds can roll them into their own HSA within 60 days without penalty.
Price Check: Hospitals Get Permanent Transparency Rules
Section 3 takes existing hospital price transparency regulations (currently found in federal code 45 CFR Part 180) and codifies them, essentially making them federal law. These rules require hospitals to publish their standard charges for items and services online in a consumer-friendly format. The idea is to give patients clearer information about potential costs before receiving care, allowing for better comparison shopping for non-emergency procedures. By making these regulations statutory law, the bill aims to ensure their permanence and potentially strengthen enforcement, though the practical effectiveness still depends on how robustly these requirements are monitored and upheld.