Democrat McCaskill Spurns Obamacare Insurance Mandate

Republicans aren’t the only ones who oppose the mandate under President Barack Obama’s new healthcare law that individuals must buy health insurance. Even Obama ally Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat who is expected to face a competitive race from Republicans in her 2012 re-election bid, has adopted that view, too, The Hill reports.

Congress should pursue alternatives to requiring individuals to buy health insurance, she says. “There’s other ways we can get people into the pool — I hope — other than a mandate, and we need to look at that,” McCaskill tells MSNBC.

During the 2010 campaign, she said she understood why the requirement was included in Obamacare but said Congress should find other ways to provide health insurance to more Americans. In August, 71 percent of Missouri voters approved a measure against the individual mandate.