Is it permissible to pay Zakat to cover the medical expenses of parents residing in the United States?

A prosperous child must provide for their poor parents, including the cost of medical treatment. This is an obligation established by the Qur’an, the Sunnah, and scholarly consensus. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, clarified that "The purest of what a man eats is from his own earning, and his child is from his earning." Scholars unanimously agree on the obligation for a prosperous child to provide for their poor parents. It is not permissible to count this expenditure as zakat because paying it benefits the zakat payer by relieving them of the obligation of providing for them, "so it is as if he paid it to himself."

Two cases are exempt from this: 1. If the parent or child is indebted, it is permissible to give them zakat to repay their debt. 2. If the zakat payer’s wealth is insufficient to provide for their parents or child, then the obligation to provide for them is lifted, and it is permissible to give them zakat.

Therefore, if your parents are poor and incurred debt for medical treatment, it is permissible to repay their debt from zakat, or if your wealth is insufficient to provide for them, it is permissible to give them from zakat.