You simply cannot prohibit denying health insurance because of pre-existing conditions without an individual mandate (unless you have a single-payer solution, which I think is a better solution anyway). That's just common sense and likely has a lot of supporters. Otherwise, nobody will bother to get insurance until they get sick or hurt. The issue is that, without a public option, everyone is forced to become a customer of the insurance industry. Of course, the insurance industry supports that idea. I'd love to have a law that forced all US citizens to start buying a product from me.

Oh you have GOT to be kidding. We all know that Clinton and Obama were debating this long before he made it into office. You can watch the videos of the debates on Youtube.

We also know that Newt Gingrich was for a health care mandate years ago. And Trump wrote about it in his book over a decade ago.

And even still the Heritage Foundation, that conservative think tank, promoted it years earlier. How do I know:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/aroy/2011/10/20/how-a-conservative-think-tank-invented-the-individual-mandate/

Forbes, the SAME source that is now telling you it was the insurance industry! Apparently they have forgotten to read their own research.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapsen/2012/06/17/mandate-to-buy-coverage-health-insurance-industrys-idea-not-obamas/

It's all about corporate America. Don't be fooled.