The health insurance mandate passed into law last year is definitely one of the most hotly contested pieces of legislation in recent years. Since millions of Americans see the bill as long overdue in addressing the many problems of America's health care system, there are also millions who are concerned with overturning the health insurance mandate. Given that this issue is very volatile, it's hard to determine where Americans ultimately stand on the issue. The issue is a complicated one and Americans find themselves on various sides of this debate. Here is a summation of the various positions people have taken.

Liberals and Democrats find themselves in an awkward political position. On one hand, they have long argued that the American health care system is in desperate need of reform and any legislation that deals with rising health care costs and predatory insurance companies is undoubtedly a good thing.

This plan, however, incorporates insurance companies into the fold, which has liberals worried. They feel that ultimately the health insurance mandate will amount to a government hand-out to the insurance industry as a whole. Since parts of the bill, like lowering the age of Medicare eligibility, making Medicaid more accessible, and offering a public option for consumers were all taken off the table, this has left liberals wondering exactly who the bill is supposed to help.

On the other side of the equation, Republicans and conservatives have been against the very idea of a health insurance mandate since the beginning. Conservatives have long argued that personal responsibility is needed and that granting health insurance to everyone will diminish the overall coverage to individuals. Furthermore, they see it as government intrusion in that they are being forced to buy coverage they may not want. Despite strong the Republican opposition, the final bill is one that gave conservatives much of what they wanted. In fact, the national law is incredibly similar to one passed by the Republican governor of Massachusetts.

One of the major critiques of the health insurance mandate is that the president has done a poor job of communicating exactly what is in the law. Many Americans have no idea what changes are being made to health insurance, including those who are interested in overturning the health insurance mandate. Many feel that if people were told some of the specific pieces of the bill, such as allowing children to stay on their parent's health insurance plan longer and preventing insurance companies from denying payment for pre-existing conditions, public sentiment on the health insurance mandate might look different and people might be more interested in seeing how the bill helps them.