I'm penalized if I don't have kids. Some people are penalized if they don't get married. We reward people for buying houses, and allow them to deduct interest paid on the loan (VERY unusual, actually. Most countries don't allow that.)
So, I don't see this as that big of a deal. It's not really a penalty for not getting insurance. It's an excise tax that you have to pay, which is waived if you have insurance.
I'm not a legal scholar, but I doubt the individual mandate will be shot down at the SCOTUS level.
Incidentally, I would feel much more comfortable if insurance companies were not allowed to be for-profit. But I've been saying that for year.