Health Care Provider Shortage Minimization Act of 2025
Key claim: HR1160 would grant statutory independent-contractor status to qualified locum tenens physicians and advanced care practitioners for federal tax purposes, affecting their self-employment tax and reporting obligations.
Abstract
(HR1160 · 119th Congress) Health Care Provider Shortage Minimization Act of 2025 This bill provides statutory authority to classify qualified locum tenens physicians and advanced care practitioners as independent contractors for federal tax purposes. (Locum tenens generally refers to an individual who temporarily fulfills the duties of another individual and is commonly used to refer to temporary staffing in the healthcare industry.) Under current law, independent contractors are considered self-employed for federal tax purposes and, thus, are required to make quarterly estimated income tax payments and pay self-employment taxes (Social Security and Medicare taxes). (Other federal tax reporting requirements and obligations apply.) The bill defines a qualified locum tenens physician or advanced care practitioner as an individual who provides temporary services for not more than one continuous year at a site of service as (1) a doctor of medicine, osteopathy, dentistry, optometry, or podiatry (authorized to provide such services by the state, U.S. possession, or U.S. territory in which such services are performed); or (2) a nurse practitioner, physician’s assistant, or certified registered nurse anesthetist. The term also includes an individual who provides such temporary services and is otherwise considered a physician under the Social Security Act (e.g., certain chiropractors). Latest action (2025-02-10): Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Why this matters
Worker classification is one of the most consequential tax determinations for individuals, controlling whether income is reported via W-2 or 1099, who bears the employer-side FICA burden, and what deductions are available. A statutory carve-out designating locum tenens clinicians as independent contractors would preempt IRS common-law and ABC-test analyses for this occupational group, shifting the full 15.3% self-employment tax onto providers while relieving facilities of employer payroll tax and benefits costs. It also sets a precedent for occupation-specific statutory classification, a framing that could expand to other labor markets.