What is the Individual Mandate?

Here's an excellent policy brief from Health Affairs giving what's in the current legislation and the pros and cons of an individual mandate for health insurance coverage. What caught my attention was the discussion of whether an individual mandate makes sense without a public option.

If your interested in legal issues, read The Constitutionality of the Individual Mandate for Health Insurance by Jack Balkin of the Yale Law School. Bottom line: the mandate is just a tax that can be avoided by purchasing health insurance. Congress has the constitutional power to tax.