Today marks an important milestone for clinical trial participants across the country: The Harley Jacobsen Clinical Trial Participation Income Exemption Act has been reintroduced to Congress. Initiated by Mural Health and co-sponsored by State Representative Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania’s 16th District and State Representative Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania’s 6th District, the bill seeks to eliminate taxes from all payments made to all participants in all clinical trials.

What began as a letter to Congress in October 2023 drafted by Mural Health’s co-founder and CEO, Sam Whitaker, has grown into a national legislative effort to make clinical trials more accessible and equitable. In February 2024, the Harley Jacobsen Act was officially introduced to Congress. Now, in June 2025, we’re proud to share that the bill has been reintroduced to the new Congress – this time with even stronger protections to ensure participants don’t lose state-administered welfare benefits when receiving clinical trial payments. Not every bill gets re-introduced to a New Congress, but this one did – a clear sign of both the widespread support behind it and the urgent need for change.

Our mission has always been to make it easier – and fairer – to participate in research. Today is a step closer to that reality. Read the full press release below.

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June 27, 2025 | Press Release

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, U.S. Reps. Mike Kelly (R-PA) and Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) introduced the Harley Jacobsen Clinical Trial Participant Income Exemption Act, legislation that aims to exempt all payments received by participants in clinical trials from being counted towards their gross income.

Under current law, payments that are not categorized as reimbursements are considered taxable income. This disparity can create a financial burden for participants, particularly those in lower income brackets.

"By exempting these payments from gross income, we can alleviate this burden and make participation in clinical trials more accessible and accommodating to individuals’ lives," said Rep. Kelly. "This legislation puts the patients first and aims to improve both patient care and patient outcomes."

“Modern medicine has shown us how crucial clinical trials are to cutting-edge research and development," said Rep. Houlahan. "However, clinical trials often take a toll on participants' time and finances, resulting in less economic diversity in these studies and fewer people able to take part in them. I'm proud to introduce the Harley Jacobsen Clinical Trial Participation Act, which will allow payments received by participants in clinical trials to be tax-exempt. This would not only increase access to these trials and diversify those participating but would also allow for better advancements in our medical research as a result of including a more comprehensive patient population."

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BACKGROUND

The Harley Jacobsen Clinical Trial Participant Income Exemption Act aims to:

• Increase diversity of the enrolled-patient populations across all trials, aligning with the strategic goals of the NIH and FDA, thereby improving the effectiveness of drug development for the benefit of the general American public.
• Provide greater access to experimental therapies to the least-empowered Americans (those with disabilities, minority populations, chronic physical illness, low-income populations, low-education level, etc.).
• Eliminate the reporting requirements for both the patient/caregiver (the payment recipient) and the 1099 reporting requirement of the payor. This will also protect participants who rely on social welfare programs such as SNAP, WIC, and others from exceeding income requirements.

Clinical trial participants (the payment recipient) are required to report all clinical-trial-payments received in a calendar year as gross income. The sponsor of the clinical trial (the payor) is required to report payments in equal to or in excess of $600 in a calendar year. 

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You can read the full bill here.

Issues: Health Care