General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Want my support for the ACA? Repeal the mandate. [View all]phleshdef
(11,936 posts)You can't deny that driving to work is a necessity for a huge number of Americans that have to get to a job.
But even so, lets go with your premise. You can opt out of car insurance by not driving and instead use public transportation or car pooling or whatever. Well, even in that case, someone is still having to pay insurance for the vehicle being used. But yea, lets say, not driving is the opt out, for argument sake.
The ACA mandate gives everyone a way to opt out too... pay the damn tax. Its completely fair. Hospitals HAVE to treat you if you end up in the ER. Unless we want to give hospitals the choice to turn you away after you've just been pulled of out the wreckage of a car accident, unconscious and bleeding internally, unless they can find an insurance card on you, then we have to continue requiring them to treat people (as we should). That also means though that every person who is not somehow insured is a liability on the system. So those who are financially able should have to pay into the system somehow. The mandate + tax fine opt out does achieve that.