Official Explanation

Analysis

The question stem indicates that you are to weaken the argument. Weaken questions require you to follow the same initial approach as you did on the assumption questions. So let’s analyze this argument for its premise and conclusion and jot them down. You should have something like this:

Premise: Low income families will get a significant rebate on their income tax to use to purchase private health insurance.

Conclusion: The politician’s proposal will ensure that all low income families have private insurance.

Now, you need the assumption. When looking for assumptions, pay close attention to the exact wording used in the argument. Notice that the conclusion states that “all” low income families will have insurance. The premise says that low income families will get a rebate on their income tax to help pay for this insurance, so you need to connect the income tax plan with the conclusion that all families will have insurance. Thus, the assumption is something along the lines of “all low income families will get the income tax rebate.” At this point, you have all the essentials from the argument.

In order to answer the question, you need to think about a way to attack the assumption. One obvious possibility is to find an answer that questions whether all families will truly benefit from the income tax plan. Once you have some sense of what the right answer should look like, you can attack the answer choices.

Choice A hurts the argument somewhat, but it’s not the best answer. Although it’s problematic that there are some plans a low income family can’t afford, the answer doesn’t imply that there are no affordable plans. Besides, the argument just contends that all families will have insurance; it doesn’t specify the quality of the insurance. So choice A doesn’t hurt the argument enough.

Choice B is irrelevant to the argument. The issue of preventative care has nothing to do with the politician’s plan, so eliminate this choice.

Choice C presents a potential downside to the plan, but it doesn’t actually call into question the politician’s proposal. The conclusion is simply that all low income families will be insured; the politician doesn’t argue that there will no other costs to the program.

Choice D does significantly weaken the argument. The politician wants you to believe that all families will have insurance as a result of the tax rebate program, but this choice tells you that many of these families do not file their income taxes. If the taxes aren’t filed, they can’t get the rebate or afford health insurance.

Check choice E just to be sure, but the rate at which low income families pay taxes is irrelevant to the question of whether all families will have health insurance.

Answer: D