Two House members want to make health savings account and flexible spending account cash available to Americans' fur babies.
Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., last week introduced H.R. 9508, the People and Animals Well-being Act of 2024.
If the bill is passed and implemented as written, a taxpayer could classify up to $1,000 in veterinary care expenses per year as "amounts paid for medical care." The change would let a taxpayer use up to $1,000 in HSA or FSA cash per year to pay pet health care bills and $1,000 per year to pay for pet health insurance.
The bill has at least some bipartisan appeal: Rep. Deborah Ross, D-N.C., has signed on as a co-sponsor.
What it means: Congress could throw clients who own pets a bone.
Veterinary expenses: About 87 million U.S. households, or 66% of the total, own a pet, according to an American Pet Products Association survey.
The American Veterinary Medical Association estimates that 45% of pet-owning U.S. households have dogs, 26%, cats; 2.7%, fish; 2.5%, birds; 1.4%, reptiles; 1.3%, gerbils; and 1.2%, rabbits.
Fewer than 1% keep chickens, horses, pigs or ferrets as pets.
