House passes individual mandate delay bill

The list of Democrats who voted for H.R. 4118 included Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif. Garamendi is a former California insurance commissioner.

The individual “shared responsibility” provision in PPACA now calls for many taxpayers to have a minimum level of health coverage — “minimum essential coverage” — or else pay a penalty equal to 1 percent of their income.

Individual mandate opponents say the Obama administration has already postponed the effective date for the PPACA group coverage mandate to 2015 for large employers and to 2016 for small employers. Many argue that requiring consumers to buy a commercial product is, or should be, unconstitutional.

Supporters say that the mandate is needed to compensate for the effects of requiring health insurers to sell coverage on a guaranteed-issue, mostly community-rated basis, and that letting people who think they are healthy go uninsured increases the likelihood that they will depend on the rest of society to pay their bills if they do need medical care.

See also:

• Individual mandate delay bill nears vote
• IRS drafts mandate penalty regs
• Two carriers push PPACA deadlines again