I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2786 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to improve the ability of 
medical professionals to practice medicine and provide quality care to 
patients by providing a tax deduction for patient bad debt. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 10, 2009 
Mr. THORNBERRY 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 improve 
the ability of medical professionals to practice medicine 
and provide quality care to patients by providing a tax 
deduction for patient bad debt. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Patient Fairness and 
Indigent Care Promotion Act of 2009’’. 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
03:21 Jun 11, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2786.IH
H2786
bajohnson on PROD1PC77 with BILLS
SEC. 2. BAD DEBT DEDUCTION FOR CASH BASIS HEALTH 
CARE PROVIDERS FOR UNPAID SERVICES 
PROVIDED TO LOW-INCOME INDIVIDUALS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 166 of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986 (relating to bad debts) is amended by 
redesignating subsection (f) as subsection (g) and by in-
serting after subsection (e) the following new subsection: 
‘‘(f) UNPAID MEDICAL CARE PROVIDED TO LOW-IN-
COME INDIVIDUALS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a taxpayer 
to whom this subsection applies, the deduction under 
subsection (a) for worthless qualified medical care 
debt shall not be less than 75 percent of the tax-
payer’s charge for such care. 
‘‘(2) TAXPAYER
TO
WHOM
SUBSECTION
AP-
PLIES.—This subsection shall apply to any taxpayer 
who is engaged in the trade or business of providing 
medical care other than as an employee and who 
used the cash receipts and disbursements method of 
accounting. 
‘‘(3) QUALIFIED
MEDICAL
CARE
DEBT.—For 
purposes of this subsection, the term ‘qualified med-
ical care debt’ means any debt for medical care pro-
vided by the taxpayer to a low-income individual. 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
03:21 Jun 11, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2786.IH
H2786
bajohnson on PROD1PC77 with BILLS
‘‘(4) 
DETERMINATION
OF
CHARGE.—The 
amount of the taxpayer’s charge which may be taken 
into account— 
‘‘(A) shall not exceed the amount of the 
charge that would be recognized for purposes of 
title XVIII of the Social Security Act, and 
‘‘(B) shall not include any amount for 
which the taxpayer is not entitled to reimburse-
ment from the low-income individual. 
‘‘(5) LOW-INCOME INDIVIDUAL.—For purposes 
of this subsection, the term ‘low-income individual’ 
means an individual who, at the time the medical 
care attributable to the debt is provided, has an an-
nual household income below 135 percent of the pov-
erty line (as defined in section 673 of the Commu-
nity Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902)) ap-
plicable to the size of the family involved. 
‘‘(6) MEDICAL
CARE.—For purposes of this 
subsection, the term ‘medical care’ has the meaning 
given to such term by section 213(d). 
‘‘(7) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall pre-
scribe such regulations as may be necessary or ap-
propriate to carry out this section, including regula-
tions providing for methods of establishing that an 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
03:21 Jun 11, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2786.IH
H2786
bajohnson on PROD1PC77 with BILLS
individual is a low-income individual for purposes of 
this section.’’ 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 
the date of the enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
03:21 Jun 11, 2009
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H2786.IH
H2786
bajohnson on PROD1PC77 with BILLS