Real bill currently in Congress c/o HR/119/10072
Hardworking Seniors Act
Latest action (2026-08-10): Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
The Framers
“Founders’ Verdict”
Confidence 0.75
Synthesis
The bill is constitutional only if it includes safeguards to prevent fiscal harm to Medicare Part A trust fund solvency, ensures uniform application across states, stays within the enumerated taxing power without becoming a pretext for federal healthcare regulation, and respects state sovereignty and the rights of the people under the Ninth and Tenth Amendments.
The proposed legislation seeks to amend the Internal Revenue Code to permit Medicare Part A enrollees to contribute to Health Savings Accounts. Under Article I, Section 8, Clause 1, Congress possesses the power to lay and collect taxes for the general welfare, which includes the authority to define the terms and conditions of tax-advantaged accounts. However, the Constitution vests in Congress the power to regulate commerce among the several states (Article I, Section 8, Clause 3), and health savings accounts implicate interstate commerce in healthcare financing. The conditionality arises from…
This bill, amending the Internal Revenue Code to allow Medicare Part A enrollees to contribute to health savings accounts, falls within the Congress's enumerated power to lay and collect taxes under Article I, Section 8. However, to remain consistent with the Tenth Amendment, which reserves to the states or the people all powers not delegated to the United States, the federal government must strictly confine this measure to its tax purpose and not use it as a pretext to regulate healthcare or expand federal authority beyond that narrow grant. The Ninth Amendment further reminds us that the peo…
This bill proposes to amend the tax code to permit Medicare Part A enrollees to contribute to Health Savings Accounts. The Constitution grants Congress the power to lay and collect taxes for the general welfare (Article I, Section 8, Clause 1), and the Sixteenth Amendment authorizes income taxes without apportionment. However, the power to tax must be exercised with due regard to the separation of powers and the limitation of federal authority to enumerated ends. The condition for constitutionality is that the amendment must not exceed the scope of the taxing power by creating an unenumerated …
This bill is a proper exercise of the power of Congress to lay and collect taxes, as enumerated in Article I, Section 8, Clause 1, and to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, as affirmed in McCulloch v. Maryland (1819). The amendment of the Internal Revenue Code to allow Medicare Part A beneficiaries to contribute to health savings accounts falls within the broad discretion of Congress to provide for the general welfare through taxation. There is no constitutional prohibition against such a measure, and it does not exceed the limit…
What should pass
“AI Consensus Solution”
Medicare Part A Health Savings Account Access Act of 2025
Allow individuals who are entitled to Medicare Part A to contribute to Health Savings Accounts, enabling them to save tax-free for out-of-pocket medical expenses not covered by Medicare.
Bipartisan rationale: Democratic priorities: Expands access to tax-advantaged savings for seniors, reduces out-of-pocket burden, and includes safeguards for Medicare trust fund solvency. Republican priorities: Promotes consumer-directed health savings, limits federal spending growth through a budget cap and sunset, and respects state regulatory authority over insurance.
Vote-count path: ~250 House votes: 150 moderate Democrats + 100 fiscal-conservative Republicans; ~60 Senate votes: 35 Democrats (including those from aging states) + 25 Republicans (from the HSA-friendly caucus).