Should Congress require that Americans have health insurance?
What’s the issue?
The leading health reform bills in Congress would impose a national individual mandate requiring most Americans to have health insurance. New standards would be set to determine acceptable” minimum coverage and spell out how much people needed to contribute out of their own pockets. Coverage could be obtained in various ways, including through employers, through government
health programs, or through new federal or state health insurance exchanges. Subsidies would make coverage more affordable for lowand moderate-income people, and insurance market reforms would make coverage more reliable.
Penalties, most likely in the form of a tax, would be imposed on individuals who had not obtained coverage or who were not exempted from the requirement for various reasons.
healthpolicybrief_11.pdf (application/pdf Object)
