I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 3306
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide that amounts
paid for foods for special dietary use, dietary supplements, or medical
foods shall be treated as medical expenses.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
NOVEMBER 10, 1999
Mr. BURTON of Indiana 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 provide
that amounts paid for foods for special dietary use, die-
tary supplements, or medical foods shall be treated as
medical expenses.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
The Congress hereby finds that—
(1) the inclusion of foods for special dietary
use, dietary supplements, and medical foods in the
deduction for medical care does not subject them to
regulation as drugs,
(2) there is precedent under which the Internal
Revenue Service has treated such items as allowable
for the medical expense deduction,
(3) such items have been shown through re-
search and historical use to be a valuable benefit to
human health, in particular disease prevention and
overall good health, and
(4) children with inborn errors of metabolism,
metabolic disorders, and autism, and all individuals
with diabetes, autoimmune disorders, and chronic in-
flammatory conditions, frequently require daily die-
tary interventions as well as medical interventions to
manage their conditions and such dietary interven-
tions often become a significant economic burden on
such individuals.
SEC. 2. AMOUNTS PAID FOR FOODS FOR SPECIAL DIETARY
USE, DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS, OR MEDICAL
FOODS TREATED AS MEDICAL EXPENSES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) of section 213(d)
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to medical,
dental, etc., expenses) is amended by redesignating sub-
paragraphs (C) and (D) as subparagraphs (D) and (E),
respectively, and by inserting after subparagraph (B) the
following new subparagraph:
‘‘(C) for foods for special dietary use, die-
tary supplements (as defined in section 201 of
the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act),
and medical foods,’’.
(b) SPECIAL
RULE
FOR
INSURANCE
COVERING
FOODS FOR SPECIAL DIETARY USE, DIETARY SUPPLE-
MENTS, AND MEDICAL FOODS.—Subsection (d) of section
213 of such Code is amended by adding at the end the
following new paragraph:
‘‘(12) SPECIAL
RULE
FOR
INSURANCE
COV-
ERING FOODS FOR SPECIAL DIETARY USE, DIETARY
SUPPLEMENTS, 
AND
MEDICAL
FOODS.—Amounts
paid for insurance covering foods and supplements
referred to in paragraph (1)(C) shall be treated as
described in paragraph (1)(E) only if such coverage
is of at least 60 percent of the cost of such foods
and supplements.’’
(c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
(1) Subparagraph (E) of section 213(d)(1) of
such Code, as redesignated by subsection (a), is
amended by striking ‘‘subparagraphs (A) and (B)’’
and inserting ‘‘subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C)’’.
(2) The last sentence of section 213(d)(1) of
such Code is amended by striking ‘‘subparagraph
(D)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph (E)’’.
(3) Paragraph (6) of section 213(d) of such
Code is amended—
(A) by striking ‘‘and (C)’’ and inserting
‘‘(C), and (D)’’, and
(B) by striking ‘‘paragraph (1)(D)’’ in
subparagraph (A) and inserting ‘‘paragraph
(1)(E)’’.
(4) Paragraph (7) of section 213(d) of such
Code is amended by striking ‘‘and (C)’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘(C), and (D)’’.
(5) 
Sections 
72(t)(2)(D)(i)(III) 
and
7702B(a)(4) of such Code are each amended by
striking ‘‘section 213(d)(1)(D)’’ and inserting ‘‘sec-
tion 213(D)(1)(E)’’.
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after
the date of the enactment of this Act.
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