Sponsors (2)
The bill makes trial participation more affordable and protects benefit eligibility for low-income and chronically ill participants, boosting clinical-trial access and potential medical advances, while imposing modest federal and state fiscal costs and raising administrative and program-integrity risks.
Patients participating in approved clinical trials — especially people with chronic conditions, low-income or uninsured individuals, and their dependents — will keep payments and reimbursed trial expenses (travel, lodging, childcare) tax-free, increasing net pay and lowering out-of-pocket costs, which reduces financial barriers to enrollment and may speed access to experimental treatments.
People receiving means-tested public benefits who participate in clinical trials will not have trial payments counted as income, helping them preserve eligibility and avoid benefit reductions.
State agencies, hospitals, and benefit administrators get clearer statutory guidance by tying the exclusion to a defined IRC term, which reduces administrative uncertainty when determining income/eligibility for programs.
Federal taxpayers may face modest revenue losses because clinical trial payments and reimbursements would be excluded from taxable income, which could slightly increase deficits or reduce funds available for other priorities.
State and local governments administering means-tested programs could incur higher program costs if excluded trial payments raise benefit eligibility or payment levels, potentially increasing state expenditures and pressure on budgets.
If the IRC definition used to implement the exclusion is broad or ambiguous, benefit administrators may see increased program-integrity risks (improper exclusions or fraud) and difficulty enforcing rules.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Excludes compensation and reimbursements for participation in approved clinical trials from taxable income and from income/resource tests for federally funded benefits.
Excludes money people receive for taking part in approved clinical trials — including compensation and reimbursements for reasonable and necessary expenses — from taxable income. It also requires federal, state, and locally administered means-tested benefit programs (when financed in whole or in part with federal funds) to ignore those clinical-trial payments when deciding eligibility or benefit amounts. The tax change applies to amounts paid after December 31, 2025.
Official title: To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exclude from gross income certain compensation to clinical trial participants, and for other purposes.
Introduced June 26, 2025 by Mike Kelly · Last progress June 26, 2025