With the passage of President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), Americans can let out a sigh of relief. Tax cut provisions within the package mean the country will avert what would have been a $4.5 trillion tax hike. But fiscal policy changes are not the only improvements secured by the legislation. The bill also expands healthcare choice for millions of Americans.
In short, the package gives individuals and families more options on how to spend the money they accrue in health savings accounts. This financial tool is essentially a tax-free piggy bank that can be tapped to pay for certain healthcare expenses. Under the OBBBA, patients can now use the money to access direct primary care.
What is direct primary care? It’s an alternative healthcare model that operates outside of traditional insurance-funded, hospital-based medical care.
Patients pay a flat monthly fee—typically between $50 and $100—to access a primary care physician. Think of it like a gym membership or Netflix subscription for a doctor’s office. Patients have all their primary care needs covered, including checkups, personalized wellness plans, low-cost prescription drugs, and basic lab work.
Importantly, the model puts an emphasis on building a strong doctor-patient relationship. Many clinics offer unlimited visits and around-the-clock communication via phone or text. And by avoiding middlemen—such as large hospital networks and insurance companies—physicians have the time to focus on patients rather than paperwork.
For hundreds of thousands of Americans already enrolled in direct primary care programs, these benefits are clear. Yet until recently, Americans were barred from using their health savings accounts to pay for direct primary care memberships. Federal regulations did not recognize the monthly fees as eligible expenses—effectively penalizing patients for choosing a more personalized and cost-effective approach to care.
The budget reconciliation package changed that. Under the new law, Americans can now use up to $150 per month from their health savings account to pay for direct primary care services—or up to $300 per month if the membership covers multiple people. This long-overdue change brings federal policy in line with modern healthcare, and will help more Americans access affordable, quality primary care outside the traditional, bloated system.
My own experience sheds light on the benefit direct primary care can offer. After my mother and sister passed away following battles with breast cancer, I insisted my doctor order screenings to calculate my own health risks. Because of the bloat and bureaucracy of the system, I learned the test I needed would be delayed by six months.
For me, that was a nonstarter. So, I connected with a direct primary care practitioner that was able to break through the insurance barriers and get me the screening and preventative care that will hopefully protect me from a predisposed fate. My doctor and I took decisive action as a team, and it was made possible because of the direct primary care model.
Policies included in the Republican budget bill will do more than supercharge the economy with extended tax cuts. Elements that expand patient choice could also save lives.
Elaine Parker is the President of the Job Creators Network Foundation.
