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Unit 5 Analysis Essay

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Question 5: Analysis The petitioner raises multiple issues regarding the IRS' final rule and interpretation of the provision regarding tax credits for taxpayers payers signed up in "an exchange established by the state." The IRS' final rule stated that the provision pertained to both state and federal exchanges. Petitioner argues that the phrase "established by the state," refers to just the states that have their own exchanges, and not the federal exchange. Therefore, the petitioners would not be eligible for the tax credits, and would not be required to maintain insurance coverage since the cost would exceed eight percent of their income. When the Supreme Court must analyze an agency's interpretation of statutes, the Court applies the two-step …show more content…

In writing about this issue, Jacob Gersen wrote that in United States v. Mead, “the Court concluded that Chevron deference is appropriate 'when it appears that Congress delegated authority to the agency generally to make rules carrying the force of law, and that the agency interpretation claiming deference was promulgated in the exercise of that authority” (Gersen, 2006). In King, the Court wrote that the issue at hand was not for the IRS since it was not an expert in crafting health insurance plans. So the question that needs to be asked is, if according to the Court, the IRS was not in position to make the interpretation, whose interpretation are they determining whether is reasonable? Did the Court change step two of the framework, and allow itself to disregard agencies and make its own determination of what the interpretation should be? In Chevron the Supreme Court gave deference to the agency, due to their expertise, along with being indirectly accountable to the people, unlike the courts. In an article, Kristin Hickman wrote, “Resolving statutory ambiguity necessarily implicates choosing among various policy alternatives; and it is the job of administering agencies, not courts to make these policy choices” (Hickman,

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