With guaranteed issue requirement under ACA driving up insurance premium by 30-50% annually in the coming years, how many people will continue to carry insurance before they are sick? especially the penalty is lower than the cost of any insurance that would meet the legal mandate (as it is currently designed)
It's like if there were a legal requirement that a house already on fire or burned down has to be accepted for insurance underwriting as an undamaged house . . . many people would wait for the fire before buying insurance; then the insurance company would have to raise premium, making more and more people drop buying insurance until there is fire.
Soon enough, the mandate becomes a tax on the bulk of the population indeed, as most would choose to pay the tax most years and buy insurance only after they are sick. That's how the ACA is designed. It's a backdoor tax plan that will hit the typical middle class American family.