As I said earlier, there really is no risk to being uninsured. If you are uninsured, and you need care, you still receive that care. The only people that are negatively impacted by ones poor decision are the ones that DO pay for care. One should not have the "right" to opt out of their responsability to pay for their care.I didn't see where there were cheers for the death of an uninsured man. What I saw was that the guy said that the uninsured man knew the risks of not having health care and it is his right to risk being uninsured.
My understanding of the U.S. is that obtaining health care coverage is the responsibility of the individual. Unless that changes, the rest of U.S. society should not be responsible should that individual chooses to not get or neglects getting health care coverage for himself.
In contrast, in Canada, basic health care coverage is provided by the government. Individuals (that are Canadian citizens) cannot choose to not have basic coverage, or do individuals run the risk of neglecting to get this coverage. Individuals can choose to obtain extended coverage that covers certain things over and above basic coverage.
Home insurance is optional in both Canada and the U.S. If someone chooses not to purchase it and his house burns down along with all of his belongings, the rest of society in Canada or U.S. is not responsible for rebuilding his house and replacing his belongings and money.
This particular debate revolves around whether or not that responsibility for obtaining health insurance should rest with the individual or the government. Do you want the individual to put himself and possibly his family at risk? Do you think that individuals should keep that responsibility or should that responsibility fall upon the government? My impression of the cheers is that those people feel that this individual is given the choice, made a poor choice and the government should not simply compensate people for making a poor choice that resulted in a bad outcome for that individual.
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