Dean: Individual Mandate Not Necessary (BenefitsPro)

Gov. Howard Dean says the individual mandate provision is “one of the very large blunders” of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and predicted the Supreme Court would strike it down. “It was never necessary in the president’s bill; they should have never put it in,” Dean told attendees last week at the Benefits Selling Expo in San Antonio, Texas. Dean expects the Court to strike down the mandate and leave the rest of the law intact. Dean, a former physician, proposes moving to a system emphasizing prevention, not paying by procedure. “It saves us money if we invest in prevention,” Dean said. “Today we have an illness system—you don’t come and see [a doctor] unless you get sick. Now we’re going to have a real wellness program if we make this change.”