Analysts Differ on Role of 'Individual Mandate' to Health-Reform Law

Without directive to purchase insurance, costs to consumers, government would rise, all agree

March 28, 2012 RSS Feed Print

Eliminating the individual mandate would cut the predicted number of Americans buying new health coverage in 2016 from 27 million to 15 million and increase an individual's cost of buying insurance by 2.4 percent, according to the RAND analysis.

But Christine Eibner, an economist at RAND, said government spending for each person newly enrolled in a health insurance plan would more than double, reaching nearly $7,500 a person.

"Without the individual mandate, the government would have to spend more overall to insure a lot fewer people," Eibner said in a RAND news release.

More information

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services outlines how women will fare under the Affordable Care Act.