"That's Right, the Father of Our Country Had No Difficulty Imposing a Health Insurance Mandate"

"Six years later, in 1798, Congress addressed the problem that the employer mandate to buy medical insurance for seamen covered drugs and physician services but not hospital stays. And you know what this Congress, with five framers serving in it, did? It enacted a federal law requiring the seamen to buy hospital insurance for themselves. That’s right, Congress enacted an individual mandate requiring the purchase of health insurance. And this act was signed by another framer, President John Adams."

Einer Elhauge in The New Republic explores health-care policy during the Early Republic.