The ‘individual mandate’ provision is not a government requirement to buy something you may not want. It is a government regulation enforcing the notion that providers will be paid for the goods and services they provide. Laws governing contracts are based on the notion the government's authority to enforce the legal principle of quid pro quo. Arguments to the contrary undermine a basic legal pillar of contract law and threaten the stability of our capitalist economy.
The individual mandate is the best way to address the problem of un-reimbursed healthcare, which by some estimates is as much as $116 billion each year. Using the insurance industry is the best way to keep America's health care solvent in the private sector.