Earlier this month, the IRS made a seemingly insignificant change to its policy, undermining the Obamacare mandate in a very significant way.
For the last several years, individual filers were required by law to fill out line 61 of form 1040, which indicates whether you have maintained coverage or paid the penalty. This is otherwise known as a “shared responsibility statement.” Taxpayers could also claim exemption by filing a 8965 form. Tax returns that don’t indicate coverage status (silent returns) were to be automatically rejected. However, due to an executive order issued by President Trump, that line is now optional, making it incredibly difficult to enforce the Obamacare mandate.
In a statement to Reason, the IRS said:



















