the medicare portions of the bill had broad support and reflected a year's worth of debate and negotiation. however, house republicans attached provisions to delay the individual mandate for five years to the bill, arguing that people should not have to buy insurance or pay a fine due to the wide variety of delays and exemptions that businesses had received. delaying the individual mandated would also have the unexpected effect of saving the government money, since fewer people would sign up and would require fewer subsidies to pay for their insurance. the proposal to pay for the expensive change to the medicare payment system by delaying the individual mandate was made by rep. dave camp (r-mi). this action, according to the congressional budget office, would save the government $170 billion.