Don’t call it the “individual mandate”

Kevin Drum:

The individual mandate may be an essential part of healthcare reform, but it’s also the part that’s easiest to hate.

One pro-reform blogger suggests you think of it this way: the government is subsidizing your health insurance, the same way that most employers would (if they offer insurance). But even if you think about it that way, what should Democrats call the-policy-formerly-known-as the individual mandate? Kevin:

For better or worse, the term “individual mandate” has been commonly accepted for years. Trying to change it now isn’t likely to be any more successful than Republican attempts to cynically change “private accounts” to “personal accounts” when the former started polling badly.

Cross-posted at Conventional Folly