Given the governments propensity to get “the camel’s nose under the tent”, distort markets and then completely take over I highly doubt they’ll limit their actions to the individual mandate to buy “basic” insurance. The individual mandate in and of itself is contrary to freedom, and eventually the government will define what is and is not insurance (according to interest group politics), how much it costs etc. Your solution inevitably leads to single payer socialized medicine.
You want to know the worst mandate of all? I just did a preliminary calculation of my federal income tax for 2011. I sold some long held stocks in 2011 to pay for my kid’s college expenses and am shocked at the tax bill now coming due. This confiscation of my money in the form of taxes is the worst kind of mandate...it effects everything in my life...where I can live, what I can eat, where kids can go to college...everything!
As for your point that a healthcare self-responsibility mandate will lead to single payer, it all depends on who we elect. Look, we elected Obama and the worst kind of mandate is already here, requiring every one to buy deluxe insurance which includes contraception, abortion, and a variety of maladies brought on by bad behavior. Obamacare has so many bad things in it, I can do a 5 page write-up.
The mandate I would like to see will only be for catastrophic medical expense. If you are against that what is your solution for those who end up in hospitals and can’t pay their bills for lack of insurance? Note that that mandate will only apply to those whose income justifies it. For the destitute, we already have insurance..also known as Medicaid.