(CNSNews.com) - Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R.-Ga.) said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” yesterday that he supports requiring all individuals to buy health insurance, post a bond to pay for health care, "or in some way you indicate you're going to be held accountable"--a position he called a “variation” on the type of individual mandate included in President Barack Obama’s health-care reform law.

Led by Virginia and Florida, a majority of the states are backing lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of President Obama’s individual mandate in federal court. These states argue that the U.S. Constitution simply does not give the federal government the authority to order individual Americans to buy any good or service—something which, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the federal government in fact has never done.

On “Meet the Press” on Sunday, host David Gregory showed Gingrich a video clip from an appearance he made on the program on October 3, 1993. At that time, Congress was considering President Bill Clinton’s health-care reform proposal--which was never enacted. On that 1993 program, Gingrich said he favored the federal government requiring individuals to buy health insurance and then subsidizing individuals’ purchase of health insurance on a “sliding scale” determined by their income.