As Attorney General Mike Cox battles newly passed healthcare reform on the national stage, Republicans in the state House and Senate are trying to push through constitutional amendments guaranteeing Michiganians the right to choose whether to buy health insurance.
Billing it as a states’ rights issue, Republicans say state residents should not be compelled to buy insurance, as stipulated in the new law. Amendments also would prevent people from being fined for paying directly for healthcare services.
State Sen. Valde Garcia,
Driving, he says, is a choice that people make, and the purchase of car insurance results from that choice. But people will have no choice in buying health insurance.
That argument seems flawed, in that people really have no
choice but to drive in this society.
Among most people, you drive, take a taxi – or walk. If you can afford a car, there’s really no choice but to buy or lease one.
Once you remove that argument, both car insurance and health insurance mandates are nearly the same. Both are designed to spread risk among large groups of people.
It’s not the most efficient way to provide healthcare, as it continues to rely on insurance companies as middle men that will continue to rake in large profits. But it’s better than the system we are leaving behind.
