In tomorrow’s WSJ, Stanford’s Michael McConnell has an op-ed discussing the constitutional implications of the Obama Administration’s decision to delay enforcement of the PPACA’s employer mandate. Article II, Section 3, of the Constitution states that the president “shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” This is a duty, not a discretionary power. While the […]
Archive | Insurance Exchanges
The Implications of Delaying the Employer Mandate
The Obama Administration’s decision to delay enforcement of the PPACA’s employer mandate could have far-reaching implications for PPACA implementation and the politics of health care reform. First, it’s important to recognize what the Administration’s decision does not do. Contrary to some suggestions, this decision does not affect the so-called “contraception mandate” that is currently the […]
Public Ignorance about Obamacare Revisited
By Ilya Somin on June 21, 2013 11:15 am in Democracy and Political Ignorance, Health Care, Insurance Exchanges, Obama, Political Ignorance
The recent Kaiser poll on health care linked by co-blogger Jonathan Adler reveals more evidence of public ignorance about Obamacare. Most notably, 45% of respondents say they have heard “nothing” about the health care reform law’s insurance exchanges, and 34% say they have heard “only a little.” This despite the fact that the exchanges are […]
Another Suit Filed Against IRS Rule on Tax Credits in Federal Exchanges
Last week, several small business owners and individuals filed suit challenging the legality of an IRS rule purporting to authorize tax credits for the purchase of qualifying health insurance policies in federal exchanges. The complaint is here. The suit is being coordinated by the Competitive Enterprise Institute and the plaintiffs are represented by Michael Carvin […]
Most States Won’t Create Exchanges
Yesterday was the deadline for states to tell the Department of Health and Human Services whether they wanted create their own health insurance exchanges. As the NYT reports, only 17 states have said they intend to create an exchange. Among the reasons states have given for refusing to cooperate is the lack of guidance from […]
Would It Be “Absurd” For Congress to Withhold Tax Credits In Noncompliant States?
One oft-repeated response in the comments to my latest post reiterating the argument that the PPACA only provides tax credits for the purchase of qualifying health insurance in state-run exchanges is that this would produce an “absurd” results. This would be “absurd,” some claim, because the consequence of state refusal to create their own exchanges […]
The Illegal IRS Rule on Health Insurance Exchanges – A Reply to Bagenstos
One component of the PPACA (aka Obamacare) provides for the creation of health insurance exchanges in each state in which consumers may purchase health insurance. The PPACA’s supporters anticipated that every state would create its own exchange, and the law provides for tax credits and subsidies for the purchase of qualifying health insurance plans in […]
Georgia Fact-Check Fail
The election may be over, but the work of “fact-checkers” continues. Last week, Politifact-Georgia waded into the debate over whether states should create health insurance exchanges with a fact check of my occasional co-author Michael Cannon of the Cato Institute. Specifically, Politifact evaluated the claim, made in this article, that: operating an Obamacare exchange would […]
Oklahoma Challenges IRS Rule on Tax Credits in Federal Exchanges
Oklahoma Attorney General E. Scott Pruitt today filed an amended complaint in the state’s lawsuit against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that, among other things, challenges the legality of an IRS rule that would authorize tax credits for the purchase of health insurance in federally run exchanges, and thereby expose Oklahoma employers to […]
Could Individuals Have Standing to Challenge IRS Rule Creating Tax Credits in Federal Exchanges?
The PPACA provides for tax credits and subsidies to help eligible taxpayers purchase health insurance in state-run health insurance exchanges. Although the text of the statute only provides for the issuance of credits in exchanges “established by a state,” the IRS has issued a regulation providing for the issuance of tax credits and subsidies in […]
House Hearing to Consider Illegal IRS Rule Implementing Health Care Reform
By Jonathan H. Adler on August 2, 2012 1:37 am in Administrative Law, Health Care, Insurance Exchanges
Today the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is holding a hearing on the Internal Revenue Service’s role in “Enforcing ObamaCare’s New Rules and Taxes.” Among the subjects of the hearing is a recent IRS rule authorizing tax credits and subsidies for the purchase of qualifying health insurance plans in federally-run exchanges. Although the […]
If Health Reform Law Survives, Litigation Will Continue
Unless the Supreme Court decides to eliminate the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in its entirety, Florida v. Sebelius is not the end of health care reform litigation, but only the beginning. Lawsuits are already pending challenging everything from the contraception mandate to the black lung benefits provisions to the structure of the Independent […]
Another ObamaCare Glitch
As I discussed in this post, the IRS is proposing to give tax credits as premium assistance more broadly than is authorized by the text of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Specifically, the law only authorizes such premium assistance for health insurance purchased in state health care exchanges, but the IRS is […]
The IRS Wants to Give Tax Credits for Health Insurance Purchases Beyond Those Provided for in the ACA
By Jonathan H. Adler on September 9, 2011 11:43 am in Administrative Law, Federalism, Health Care, Insurance Exchanges, Regulation
The Internal Revenue Service is beginning to promulgate regulations to implement the tax-related provisions of the Affordable Care Act (aka “ObamaCare”). A proposed rule issued last month provides that eligible taxpayers may receive tax credits for the purchase of qualifying health insurance plans established by states under Section 1311 or by the federal government under […]