Obama Appointee on Health Care Mandates

Dennis Smith / June 05, 2009

President Obama, who had previously opposed an individual mandate for health insurance, has now opened the door to including such a legal requirement as a central feature of health care reform.

An excellent explanation of the difficulties involved in the implementation of such a mandate was recently outlined in a New England Journal of Medicine article, “Universal Coverage One Head at a Time—The Risks and Benefits of Individual Health Insurance Mandates” published last year by Sherry Glied, Ph.D. Dr. Glied has just been nominated to serve as the Assistant Secretary of Planning and Evaluation at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). At this crucial time in the health care reform debate, Dr. Glied’s professional judgment on this vital issue is particularly important: (more…)