An Individual Mandate With More Teeth But Less Bite

SUMMARY

The requirement that every American obtain health insurance (the “individual mandate”) is the linchpin to successful health reform. However, it has also become both a lightning rod for opponents of comprehensive reform and a concern for progressive members who want to ensure the affordability of coverage. This memo proposes four ideas for how progressives can defend a strong individual mandate while also minimizing its burden on the middle class.

This policy memo offers four ideas for maintaining a robust coverage requirement while minimizing its burden on the middle class:

• Option 1: Instead of assessing a penalty, eliminate or reduce tax breaks for people who don’t buy insurance
• Option 2: Allow young people to pay lower premiums
• Option 3: Ease the minimum benefit requirement
• Option 4: Allow more people to buy catastrophic coverage

Without the addition of the millions of young and healthy Americans who now choose to forego coverage, health insurance reform would actually backfire—resulting in higher premiums and more instability for the middle class. These options can enable progressives to rally behind a strong coverage requirement that can help deliver health care stability and security to all Americans.

To read this Report, open the attached PDF