Why Health Insurance Isn't Like Auto Insurance

The Democrats love to compare auto insurance laws to their planned fines and jail time for not having health insurance under their new Health Care Reform Package. What the Democrats don't seem to understand is that you don't have to have auto insurance if you decide not to drive.

There are plenty of people in this country that don't drive because they can't afford the expense, upkeep, and -- Yes -- the cost of insurance associated with driving a car. Many of these people have been forced to give up driving because the cost of auto insurance is well out of their reach. This is because the rates are excessively high due to the existence of high risk drivers. High risk drivers typically have numerous traffic tickets and auto accidents. So, they walk, bike, or take public transportation. There aren't any similar alternatives to not having health insurance.

Additionally, the fines imposed for not having auto insurance are typically assessed at the time that a driver either gets a ticket or has been in an accident. Even though many states require proof of insurance when someone applies for or renews their driver's license, there are those who only buy insurance just to meet that requirement and cancel it as soon as they have the new or renewed license in hand. That is why most drivers add "uninsured driver coverage" to their auto insurance package. In the world of health insurance, the cost of the uninsured is automatically built into the cost of every medical procedure and service. In turn, our health insurance premiums are upped to reflect it.

People found not to have auto insurance at the time of a ticket or accident, generally lose their license over that very fact and, as a result, they no longer drive. In the case of health care, the government isn't doing the same. Under no circumstances will anyone take someone's access to health care away because they didn't buy health care insurance.

Lastly, there are many high income people in this country who don't need to buy health insurance because they are wealthy enough to be considered "self insured". That's not the same in the case of auto insurance where even the wealthy must have it. So, I guess someone like George Soros or Warren Buffet will just have to buy insurance or be fined or thrown in jail; even though either one of them could literally rent an entire hospital and all of its staff for whatever period they might be sick. In addition, they will be taxed as high income earners with an additional 5% tax to pay for our nation's health care. Nowhere are high income drivers taxed at a higher rate in order to pay for everyone else's auto insurance.

This comparison to auto insurance is as ridiculous as all the other comparisons that have been used by some Democrats in trying to justify their health care reform package. It is as ridiculous as saying a doctor will yank a kid's tonsils our or cut off a diabetic's feet so they can make more money. Sadly, there are some in this country that actually believe these kinds of comparisons. They are either so joined at the hip with the Democrats that they take them verbatim, or they are too stupid to understand how nonsensical these comparisons are.