Mandate Smandate

So what is this “individual mandate” we keep hearing so much about?  It’s not a date with a single man, but a legal requirement for all Americans to get healthcare coverage and penalizes them financially if they do not. Under this government decree healthy Americans will have to pay into the system for their own good whether they like it or not.  Flatly stated, you must, must, must have insurance or you get beaten with a wet squirrel by a bureaucratic wonk who will then fine you.  And without insurance it will be hard to find a doctor to take care of your wet squirrel inflicted carnage.

This individual mandate provision is what made all the headlines recently in the Supreme Court case which said is was A-okay for Uncle Sam to require you to buy insurance, much like the lessor known case of The United States vs Susie Sweatbelly which required all citizens to bathe daily to prevent widespread panic and noxious body odor.

The individual mandate will be accomplished in 3 ways...sort of a triumvirate of turpitude, either you get insurance the old fashion way...you earn it from your employer, or you join the happy and contented ranks of Medicaid and Medicare, or you buy it yourself through the previously blogged about health exchanges.  Pshaw you say, what if you can’t afford to buy it?  Not to worry, you will be given a grant, waiver, freebe, or subsidy by the good folks in Washington to get your very own policy.

All you need to do to understand that the individual mandate is the cornerstone of the ObamaCare debacle is to follow the money.  A massive 84 percent share of ObamaCare spending— or $ 899 billion— goes toward decreasing the uninsured population over the next decade. This is the amount needed to pay for the expansion of Medicaid (assuming all states participate) and the new state-based health insurance exchanges. (ObamaCare Survival Guide)

The bottom line, the individual mandate is key to universal coverage.  In Romneychusetts, the mandate resulted in 97% of folks being insured, so I suspect it has its merits; but what remains to be seen is how badly it bankrupts the treasury and the resulting quality of the care.