Obamacare’s most disliked component is the “individual mandate” to buy health insurance. It is a provision that very nearly got the entire law struck down in court. Now some conservatives are warning that Republican plans to replace Obamacare may include their own versions of an individual mandate. The critics are wrong. But it’s not surprising that this subject has inspired misunderstanding. The individual mandate has been mired in confusion from the beginning.
Confusion, and worse. President Obama, while he was trying to get the law enacted, insisted that its penalties for people who do not buy insurance did not amount to a tax. After it was enacted, his administration insisted in court that the penalties were taxes for one legal purpose and were not taxes for another — in the same case. The Supreme Court worsened the muddle when it considered the law, effectively rewriting the relevant provisions.
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