June 10, 2024

Brian Blase and Theo Merkel referenced in News Max – June 10, 2024

Brian Blase

President at Paragon Health Institute

Brian Blase, Ph.D., is the President of Paragon Health Institute. Brian was Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy at the White House’s National Economic Council (NEC) from 2017-2019, where he coordinated the development and execution of numerous health policies and advised the President, NEC director, and senior officials. After leaving the White House, Brian founded Blase Policy Strategies and served as its CEO.

Theo Merkel

Former Director Private Health Reform Initiative at Paragon Health Institute

Theo Merkel formerly served as the Director of the Private Health Reform Initiative and a Senior Research Fellow for the Paragon Institute and a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute.

On June 10, 2024, Paragon’s research paper “Follow the Money,” by Brian Blase and Theo Merkel, was referenced in News Max.

From the article:

What makes the subsidies all the more galling is that they aren’t actually directed at patients. By insulating patients from the true price of coverage, the enhanced tax credits have given insurers license to raise premiums — as they have for the last two years in a row.

This amounts to an open-ended federal giveaway to a middleman that, not surprisingly, has turned record profits in recent years.

And since the value of the subsidies decreases as one’s earnings increase, the enhanced tax credits can end up functioning as a de facto income tax. As Brian Blase of the Paragon Health Institute points out in a recent paper, a family of four making $80,000 a year might qualify for a $14,060 premium tax credit. Should that income rise to $90,000, that subsidy would drop to just $12,396 — forcing that household to spend more money for the same coverage.

The full article can be found in News Max.

Private Health

Affordable Care Act (ACA/Obamacare), Subsidies