Insurance CEO: Individual Mandate Unlikely to Pass Constitutional Challenge

In a Kaiser Health News interview, Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini  discusses the individual mandate in the federal health care law (ObamaCare).  When asked whether the law can work without a mandate, Bertolini stressed “it’s pretty likely the mandate won’t survive a constitutional challenge.  He further added, “there isn’t anyone who thinks the law can stand without the individual mandate.”   Keep in mind, these comments come from the CEO of an insurance industry collectively gaining approximately 30 million new customers due to the law’s coverage requirements.

Nicole Fisher at the John Locke Foundation also blogged about the issue, commenting “if a company CEO who should be pushing for the mandate cannot defend the constitutionality of it and claims it won’t be around for much longer, then why are states moving forward with only one game plan? Shouldn’t we be thinking about alternative solutions to mandates and exchanges and taking time to see what’s most likely on the horizon?”  See more of the post here.