Massachusetts has had a health insurance mandate for two years. It seemed scary at first, but it is now part of the wall paper. The GOPERS can screech all they want, but the mandate is going to help Democrats, a lot.
Don't be afraid of a health insurance mandate.
My family has been employed, unemployed, on COBRA, and in the individual market since our life turned stressful in 1992 with a major layoff after 20 years and a start up business in the nursery. For the last 17 years we have had to plan our life around staying insured for ourselves and two children. Given the stranglehold Wall street has around Main street, we never will recover our old way of live. Our new way of life was six years as a contractor without benefits with a major university until getting laid off again.
We have paid $950 for COBRA and $1200 a month in the individual market but always worried about what might come next. What came was the Massachusetts Connection. We don't qualify for any subsidy so we shopped in the Exchange.
From the user point of view, it is great. The Commonwealth Connection negotiates for us with the enemy. The shopping web site is a breeze. All the options are simple and clear. You can price all the trade offs for coverage, co-pays,and drugs. Differences are frankly modest. We now pay $450 and know just what we are getting.
What is most different is the peace of mind. It is not that we are forced to buy health insurance, it is that we have a fall back when we need it. We have someone on our side. This is especially true for the parents of twenty somethings who don't want to get on the treadmill. It seems like an odd result, but the arts are going to bloom in Massachusetts because our kids can stay insured for less than the monthly payments on their student loans. Our kids Facebook friends are now staying in MA or moving to MA because (anxiety wise) they can live free here without dying.