As some of the deadlines approach for the implementation of the Health Care Reform Bill, many are still up in arms about the government "mandating" them to carry health insurance (a requirement that does not take full effect until 2014). For those that believe this is a violation of the Constitution and an affront to your rights, I have a suggestion. Stop seeking medical treatment.
The real affront to rights comes from the people who refuse to carry insurance, but yet, continue to seek medical treatment that they cannot pay for on their own. This is a violation of my rights and the rights of all Americans who carry medical insurance. I pay for you, and I have been paying for you for years. I pay for you because the cost of your medical treatment -- treatment that you can't pay for -- is rolled into my bills at hospitals and doctor's offices. They do not just write you off. Life isn't like the episode of Seinfeld when Kramer told Jerry that the U. S. Postal Service just writes things off. When the larger bill gets to my insurance company, they pass the higher cost on to me with increases in my premium.
So the best way to make sure that everyone is being treated fairly is for you to stop going to the doctor and hospital since you do not have insurance and for me to continue to use my insurance free from the burden of your carry over costs. God forbid we would not want anyone paying for someone else to live a long, healthy, productive life.
Now, I can hear you screaming. I have the right to go to the doctor and hospital. Ok! Well, if you follow your logic to its end regarding the requirement of health insurance being unconstitutional and paying for other people's health insurance being unfair, then you do not have the right to do these things because you cannot pay for them. If you cannot pay for medical treatment, then you cannot have it.
The one thing that is being forgotten is that very few of us can walk into the hospital with cash in hand and pay our bill. This is the reason we have health insurance. The whole idea behind the requirement to carry health insurance is as much about protecting me from having to shoulder the burden of your lack of health insurance as it is about protecting your access to health care, so maybe it is time to rethink this inflamed and misinformed reaction and realize that for many people this reform, and its requirements, will give access to affordable health insurance coverage so you are paying your fair share for your long, healthy, and productive life.