I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3811

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to waive the employee portion 

of Social Security taxes imposed on individuals who have been diagnosed 

as having cancer or a terminal disease. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 11, 2004

Mr. PAUL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Ways and Means 

A BILL

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to waive 

the employee portion of Social Security taxes imposed 

on individuals who have been diagnosed as having cancer 

or a terminal disease.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Cancer and Terminal 

5 Illness Patient Health Care Act of 2004’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. WAIVER OF EMPLOYEE PORTION OF SOCIAL SECU2 RITY TAXES ON INDIVIDUALS DIAGNOSED AS 

3 HAVING CANCER OR A TERMINAL DISEASE. 

4 (a) EMPLOYEES.—Section 3101 of the Internal Rev5 enue Code of 1986 (relating to tax on employees) is 

6 amended by adding at the end the following new sub7 section: 

8 ‘‘(d) EXCEPTION FOR EMPLOYEES WITH CANCER OR

9 TERMINAL DISEASE.—No tax shall be imposed by this 

10 section on wages paid to an individual for any period for 

11 whom a certification by a physician (as defined in section 

12 1861(r)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

13 1395x(r)(1)) is in effect stating that—

14 ‘‘(1) the individual has a terminal disease, or 

15 ‘‘(2) the individual has cancer and whether or 

16 not such cancer is in remission. 

17 The preceding sentence shall apply in the case of a certifi18 cation that an individual’s cancer is in remission only dur19 ing the period that the individual certifies to the employer 

20 that the individual is incurring significant costs (not reim21 bursed by insurance or otherwise) by reason of such can22 cer.’’

23 (b) COMPARABLE TREATMENT FOR SELF-EMPLOYED

24 INDIVIDUALS.—Section 1401 of such Code is amended by 

25 adding at the end the following new subsection: 
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1 ‘‘(d) REDUCTION IN TAX FOR SELF-EMPLOYED INDI2 VIDUALS WITH CANCER OR TERMINAL DISEASE.—

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each of the rates of tax 

4 under subsections (a) and (b) shall be reduced by 50 

5 percent in the case of an individual for whom a cer6 tification by a physician (as defined in section 

7 1861(r)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

8 1395x(r)(1)) is in effect throughout the taxable year 

9 stating that—

10 ‘‘(A) the individual has a terminal disease, 

11 or 

12 ‘‘(B) the individual has cancer and whether 

13 or not such cancer is in remission. 

14 The preceding sentence shall apply in the case of a 

15 certification that an individual’s cancer is in remis16 sion only during the period that the individual is in17 curring significant costs (not reimbursed by insur18 ance or otherwise) by reason of such cancer. 

19 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE WHERE CERTIFICATE IN

20 EFFECT FOR ONLY PORTION OF YEAR.—If the cer21 tification referred to in paragraph (1) is in effect for 

22 only a portion of the taxable year, paragraph (1) 

23 shall be applied by substituting for ‘50 percent’ the 

24 number of percentage points which bears the same 
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1 ratio to 50 as such portion bears to the entire tax2 able year.’’

3 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

4 this section shall apply to periods after the date of the 

5 enactment of this Act. 

6 (d) NO IMPACT ON SOCIAL SECURITY TRUST FUND

7 DEPOSITS OR BENEFITS.—Nothing in the amendments 

8 made by this section shall be construed to affect the 

9 amount of deposits into any trust fund under the Social 

10 Security Act or the amount of benefits payable under such 

11 Act.

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