I do not know why I even bother writing anymore about so-called health care “reform” legislation. As of this date it seems almost certain that some kind of such legislation will eventually pass the US Congress and be signed by our Dear Leader. Then comes the deluge, (although initially it may only be a drizzle).
One recent objection against some health care “reform” legislation is this: The legislation will “fine” or “tax” people who do not buy approved health insurance, even if subsidized; in practice many people will then be fined or “taxed”. An argument used to support this “fine” says that every State already requires owners of automobiles to buy auto insurance; if they do not they are breaking the law and thus subject to a fine. An article in the Wall Street Journal reported that Mitt Romney used this argument when he said in 2006, “We insist that everybody who drives a car has insurance, and cars are a lot less expensive than people”. (Romney, who was governor of Massachusetts at the time, was trying to get “health care legislation” passed in his State.) Well, that argument does not hold water. The auto insurance that car owners are legally obligated to buy is not insurance which protects the actual car owner, the one who has to buy the insurance. Instead it protects some other person or persons – those who are in a car which is involved in an auto accident which is not their driver’s fault! You can be in a car accident which is your fault, and even suffer severe damage, and your auto insurance need not pay you a single penny. (You could buy collision insurance for your car but that is not mandatory unless you still owe money on a car loan. You could also buy auto insurance which pays for some of your medical bills, even if the accident is your fault. But that type of insurance is not mandatory.) So don’t give me this bullcrap that you are already required by law to buy auto insurance. That requirement does not protect you as would health insurance; it protects somebody else.
Also keep in mind that only car owners are required to buy auto insurance. Many adults do not own cars. Most families own cars, but in many cases only one spouse owns a car; the other spouse does not.