Health insurance mandate

A health insurance mandate is either an employer or individual mandate to obtain private health insurance, instead of (or in addition to) a National Health Service or National Health Insurance.


Federal insurance legislation signed in 2010 includes both employer and individual mandates to take effect in 2014, but it is controversial and is being widely challenged in federal courts. As of 2011, more than half the states and several organizations and individuals are suing to challenge the mandate in federal courts, and the decisions so far have divided almost evenly; the issue is expected to be decided by the United States Supreme Court. In August 2011, after a federal district court judge invalidated the entire legislation based on the individual mandate provision being unconstitutional, a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals based in Atlanta affirmed in part: the panel agreed the individual mandate was unconstitutional, but decided that it could be severed, allowing the rest of the statute to remain. The Obama Administration will likely ask the full Appeals Court, and ultimately the Supreme Court, to hear the case