Should Health Insurance Be Mandatory

In the New York Times, the Editors have compiled opinions of various health care experts.

"President Barack Obama said this week that he is now open to Congressional proposals that would make every American responsible for getting health care insurance. In a letter to Senators Edward Kennedy and Max Baucus, he wrote that employers would have to share in the cost and that there would have to be a hardship waiver for those who could not afford insurance.

During the campaign last year, he opposed such a broad individual mandate, which Hillary Rodham Clinton supported. At that time, he argued for a more incremental approach, requiring that children be covered first.

Is a broad mandate that Americans have medical insurance a workable way to begin health care reform? Would taking a bolder step be more efficient or more disruptive?"

Karen Davenport, Center for American Progress
Stuart M. Butler, Heritage Foundation
Marcia Angell, Harvard Medical School
Grace-Marie Turner, Galen Institute
Charles P. Mouton, Howard University College of Medicine

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