Conservatives' mixed message on health care mandate

The New York Times explores the history of the individual mandate. In other health law articles, a Gallup poll finds small business owners worried about the costs they will incur and some doctors in favor of a single payer health system file a brief with the Supreme Court opposing the federal law.

The New York Times: Conservatives Sowed Idea Of Health Care Mandate, Only To Spurn It Later
It can be difficult to remember now, given the ferocity with which many Republicans assail it as an attack on freedom, but the provision in President Obama's health care law requiring all Americans to buy health insurance has its roots in conservative thinking. ... The individual mandate, as it is known, was seen then as a conservative alternative to some of the health care approaches favored by liberals -; like creating a national health service or requiring employers to provide health coverage (Cooper, 2/14).

Politico: Poll: Small Business Fear Health Care Costs
For small business owners in the U.S. who are not hiring new employees, almost half say worries about the potential cost of health care and new government regulations are the reasons they are not hiring, according to a new Gallup poll Wednesday. An overwhelming majority of small business owners surveyed, 85 percent, indicated that they are currently not looking for new workers. Asked to describe the reason, 48 percent of those not hiring said it was due to concerns about possible rising healthcare costs, while 46 percent said they were worried about new government regulations (Lee, 2/15).

CQ HealthBeat: Single-Payer Advocates Argue Health Care Law Should Be Struck Down
Opponents of the health care law gained some allies when doctors who advocate a single-payer health care system announced Tuesday that they have filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that Americans shouldn't be required to get insurance. Numerous other groups and Republican members of Congress also filed by a Monday court deadline in support of the case against the overhaul brought by 26 state governors and attorney generals, the National Federation of Independent Business and four individuals  (Norman, 2/14).