March 21, 2008 11:13AM # NFIB Individual Mandate Debate By [Michael F. Cannon](https://www.cato.org/people/michael-f-cannon) --- SHARE Earlier this week, I participated in a lively debate on [individual mandates](https://www.cato.org/pubs/policy_report/v29n5/cpr29n5-1.html) — i.e., a legal requirement that every American purchase health insurance. Also on the panel were Prof. [Sherry Glied](http://www.mailmanschool.org/msphfacdir/profile.asp?uni=sag1) of Columbia University, [Bob Moffit](http://www.heritage.org/about/staff/RobertMoffit.cfm) of the Heritage Foundation, and [Peter Harbage](http://www.newamerica.net/people/peter_harbage) of the New America Foundation. The debate can be viewed online at [Kaiser​Net​work​.org](http://www.kaisernetwork.org/health_cast/hcast_index.cfm?display=detail&hc=2553). As the debate was sponsored by the National Federation of Independent Business, which has yet to take a position on an individual mandate, it should be of particular interest to small business owners and employees. *Congressional Quarterly* quoted me as saying, “Universal coverage is a bomb that will blow up for small businesses.” (I meant to say that a policy of universal coverage, and thus an individual mandate, would blow up in their faces. We’ll have to see what the tape says.) Also: “Tax reform and deregulation are how to relieve the burden of health benefits for small business, and they have the added benefit of being the right thing to do.” ##### Related Tags [General](https://www.cato.org/general), [Health Care](https://www.cato.org/health-care), [Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).