An individual mandate is a requirement that individuals purchase their own health insurance. Such a mandate may include some subsidies, tax credits, or other means of helping the poor to pay for premiums. Many experts believe an individual mandate is the cornerstone of health care reform because without it, many uninsured individuals seek care from more expensive settings – such as the emergency room. In addition, many people will simply not buy insurance unless they are required to. The theory is that the more people there are in the insurance pool, the cheaper premiums will be.
Unfortunately, the money saved by shifting people away from uncompensated care and getting them into the insurance pool appears to trickle in more slowly than is ideal. In Massachusetts, for example, where there is an individual mandate in place, many more people signed up for insurance than the government anticipated, but the expected cost savings have not been realized as quickly as anticipated.
An individual mandate, on its own, is unlikely to lead to real universal coverage. When states require people to buy automobile insurance, for example, many individuals still prefer to pay the penalty than to sign up for the insurance.
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Current State and Prospects for Consumer Directed Health Care Kim D. Slocum, President of KDS Consulting speaks with Malorye Allison, editor-in-chief of ReformPlans.com.
