The individual mandate is a fundamental element in the flawed architecture of this HCR bill, and the best thing about it is its not going into effect for another four years. I think there's a good chance that by the time 2014 rolls around it won't be part of the new HCR system. Already people are talking about court challenges to it, and I'd be surprised if it survives.
I don't care what the wonks say about it, the idea of the government forcing Americans to buy health insurance from hated, profit-driven companies is bad politics, and it's tossing a lazy softball to the political right to hit out of the park, and I, for one, will not come to the administration's defense.
This comment at Ezra Klein's blog this morning reflects my thinking about it all along:
As a conservative, I like the opt out provision Ezra links to a WHOLE lot more than the mandatory provisions in the current bill. You could even make the opt out provisions a little less draconian by saying that if an individual opts out and subsequently needs care, the government will cover the bill but establish a debt that will be collected by garnishing wages, attaching assets etc. Most people, myself included, would probably opt to stay within the system. But at least it would be OUR choice, not one imposed on us from above, a difference that consistently seems to elude liberals.
BTW, from my conversations with fellow knuckle dragging neanderthals, if the Democratics had started the discussion a year ago with a clearly articulated opt out/in provision, they probably would have neutralized 2/3rds of traditional Republicans and about 1/4 of the Tea Party crowd.
This should have been a Medicare buy-in from the get go. I know the insurance companies would have fought it tooth and nail, but it would have solved more problems up and down the line and it would have been a much easier political sell to sane Americans who already understand and accept it. But as I said the other day, this was never about what sane Americans wanted; it was always about what the Beltway insiders wanted, and the result is a profoundly flawed monstrosity.
The Dems say they needed to get something done, and that they will improve on it. Let's hope they do. Let's hope that's a part of their thinking about not having a lot of good regulatory stuff kick in soon and the other more politically flawed stuff take effect in four years. If that's the plan, then they're a lot shrewder than I've given them credit for.