Excerpt: By July, all residents will be legally required to have health insurance -- a so-called 'individual mandate.' The bill's sponsors believe that the uninsured can buy their way out of their predicament. As doctors in an urban hospital, we are not optimistic about this proposal. We care for uninsured and underinsured patients who often lack the resources to eat well or find proper child care, much less to buy insurance. The individual mandate is another ill-fated Band-Aid.  MORE >>