Paragon President Brian Blase lays out the case against a “fix” for the ACA family glitch

In a public comment letter, Paragon’s Brian Blase lays out the case against a “fix” for the so-called Affordable Care Act (ACA) family glitch. See the full letter below:

The letter is addressed to Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen and Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Charles P. Rettig. The letter lays out a few reasons the proposed rule should not be finalized, including:

  • The IRS must enforce the law and must remain immune to political influence.
  • If finalized, the proposed rule would harm many people and entities, including families, taxpayers, and states.
  • Finalizing the rule would damage the IRS because “it would prove that [the agency] can be pressured to kowtow to a White House that is willing to violate laws enacted by Congress, resulting in increased public distrust and necessary congressional oversight to prevent the agency from further politicizing its enforcement powers.”
  • The proposed rule lacks a quantitative cost-benefit analysis, breaking from administrative norms, deceiving the public, and likely violating a second law.

Dr. Blase’s letter follows one that he signed along with 35 other notable scholars.

Other signatories include Al Hubbard, the former director of the National Economic Council; Tomas Philipson, the former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers; Diane Black, the former chairman of the U.S. House Budget Committee; Tom Barker, former acting general counsel at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS); Joe Grogan, the former Health Program Associate Director at the Office of Management and Budget; and Paul Mango, the former Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy at HHS.

Link to HTML version of letter.

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