This is my favorite cockamamie argument against universal insurance.
The same people who hate paying taxes have no problem paying for the uninsured, instead of forcing EVERYONE to buy insurance.
We don’t deny medical care to ANYONE in this country, regardless of insurance coverage.
Why not make sure EVERYONE is already covered so YOU don’t have to pay for someone else’s irresponsibility?
Why not mandate that everyone purchase a product that’s:
- twice as expensive as it should be and rising 150% every 10 years
- misaligned with your desire to be healthy
- painfully inadequate providing you with a convenient experience
- exempt from antitrust regulations
- etc…
Soup…how much of our nation’s healthcare costs are due to the uninsured taking advantage of the system that doesn’t deny them? Very little. 75% of healthcare costs in America come from insured chronic illness. 25% of healthcare costs come from acute illnesses. Our current system is set up to purchase as much possible care for as much possible chronic illness. Until that bottomless money pit business model is changed, I cannot support a mandate that will bankrupt the average person and the average small business.
It truly doesn’t matter anyway. In just about 5 years, only the wealthy companies and individuals will be able to afford traditional insurance the government mandates. It’s not in the insurance industry’s profitable interest to offer low cost, high-deductible plans. I haven’t seen any regulations out there mandating that insurance companies must offer a certain percentage of affordable high deductible plans.
Are they mandating affordability for the average person? Or are they mandating a bailout of a completely unsustainable business. Imagine a bailout of the automobile industry but multiply that by 1000 every year.