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Now that the public option seems to have been permanently nixed from health care legislation, the individual health insurance mandate is meeting with opposition on all sides of the political spectrum.

The mandate, which is present in both of the bills that have been approved so far by Congress, would require that all Americans purchase insurance, including those who don't have jobs. They would be expected to purchase individual health insurance to comply, or pay a fine.

But at what cost?

As it says in the article about health care at the LA Times, several factors in the current bill(s) may make it less expensive to pay the fine instead of coverage.

The issue is, now that there isn't a public option to provide competition, and without any type of price controls to limit the rising costs of health care, it may be cheaper to pay the $750 yearly fine than to purchase individual health insurance.

And with little information out there regarding the proposed health care cooperatives, or the subsidies that would be available to those who don't make enough to purchase their own coverage, opponents to the mandates are gaining more traction.