> Wouldn't the problem with that be, insurance companies would have an incentive to raise prices as high as they can, knowing that the public would basically be

> Wouldn't the problem with that be, insurance companies would have an incentive to raise prices as high as they can, knowing that the public would basically be required by law to pay them (or an equivalent penalty)? The public is already required by law to pay the insurance companies. But with a fixed, lower fine, I suppose there's a "laffner curve", where insurance companies can't raise their prices too much or enough people will opt for the IRS penalty that the insurance market would stop having enough buy-in.