Why Are Republicans So Against A Pro-Business Policy Like The Individual Mandate?

image of protest sign reading Keep your government hands off my Medicare

The US Supreme Court is hearing arguments about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Specifically 26 states are challenging the individual mandate which requires all people to buy health insurance. The largest voice against the mandate are Republicans. Why are Republicans so against a pro-business policy like the individual mandate?

Conservatives vying for the Republican presidential nomination, meanwhile, are watching the Supreme Court proceedings with equal interest. Maintaining that the reform imposes excessive costs on individuals, states, and businesses, they have vowed to push for repeal of the law if the Supreme Court upholds it.

According to some analysts, the unbending Republican stance toward the healthcare reform goes beyond any core American values or tendencies; it is, rather, indicative of a party that has shifted sharply to the right. “A very similar [healthcare] plan was signed into law in Massachusetts [in 2006] by then-Governor Mitt Romney,” noted Thomas Mann, a political scientist at the prominent public policy think tank the Brookings Institution. “Since those days, the Republicans…have become bent on lowering taxes, reducing the size of government, and opposing any further transfers to the poor and low-income households. Moreover, they are emotionally opposed to anything embraced by Barack Obama.”

If the court decides to strike down the individual mandate, it will have to rule on whether the rest of the law can stand. Another specific provision, the expansion of the Medicaid programme to cover 15 million uninsured lower-income Americans, is also expected to receive particular attention from the court.

Why do US citizens resist healthcare reform?

It is obvious the GOP reaction to the mandate is more emotional than rational. Why else would they be against a program that will control health care costs and help businesses in the long run and is a boon to the insurance industry like Medicare part D was when Bush Jr. got that passed in 2006.

I understand that most people don’t like the government telling them what to do although buying health insurance is a ridiculous thing to assert one’s liberty about. The government forces me to do a lot of things I’m against like paying taxes for unnecessary wars and forcing me to have a license and insurance to drive a car.

Health care is not a bad thing. It’s a public good just like rules that close down restaurants that fail health inspections.

All I know is tax payers are going to be paying for those without insurance. I would rather it be complete single payer rather than health care by ER like we have now before the full PPACA kicks in, in 2014.