Individual mandate delay bill nears vote

Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Kan., the lawmaker who introduced the SIMPLE Fairness Act bill, said in a statement that the Obama administration has already delayed the effective date of the PPACA employer mandate one year.

“It is not fair to give relief to businesses with big checkbooks, yet not help hard working families with relief from these unaffordable mandates,” Jenkins said in a statement.

Carriers, and others, have argued the individual mandate penalties are too low, and that setting up an affordable, guaranteed-issue, community-rated health insurance system requires the use of mandates to keep low-risk people in the risk pool.

Letting low-risk people go without health coverage also increases the risk that they’ll become a burden to providers, carriers and the feds when they do need care, supporters argue.

See also:

• Nitty-gritty on 6 key provisions of employer mandate
• PPACA mandate battle reaches Senate floor
• Some Democrats back individual mandate delay