Should Health Insurance Be Mandatory?

Imagine if government deducted money from every employed American's paycheck for health insurance the same way they do taxes. Would you be for or against this idea?

I consider health insurance essential, and don't understand why any working person would chose to NOT pay for health insurance...but it is unconstitutional for the Federal government to make people buy something they don't want. If someone is content with paying one hundred dollars for an uninsured doctors visit, then let them.

It's wrong to force somebody to buy something they don't want. If they can do it for healthcare, they can do it for anything. Hence they shouldn't do it at all.

Impact wrote:Imagine if government deducted money from every employed American's paycheck for health insurance the same way they do taxes. Would you be for or against this idea?

Well, in a way you already do. I paid about $400 dollars last year into Medicare - a health insurance for old ppl. (for which I now have a card - but still use my work health insurance).

Canada is a good model that universal health care can work and it is just because the monied interests have bought off our elected (mostly Reptilian) elected officials that we deny that we too need some kind of health care system for everyone.

Political sound bites from the Tea Party are great until you find yourself in a medical emergency and what few thousand dollars you may have in savings is about to disappear for a couple days treatment and you will become an endentured servant to some hospital and doctors for the rest of your life.

It works for me - I live in Canada and each paycheck, a certain amount is deducted, though thanks to universal health care, my employer also chips in and so does the government. Back before I was employed in a continuing contract, I paid a bit each month but now that I have regular employment, my employer and the government contribute, as well. Mandatory health insurance works when there's universal health care and no one is denied care based on their ability or inability to pay. The quality of care also doesn't depend on your ability to pay.