The Democrats Health Care Plan: Uncle Sam Knows Best

After weeks of promising a complete bill, the true colors of the Democrats health care plan are finally beginning to take shape.  Late this afternoon, buried in the thick of the July 4th holiday, Senate Democrats revealed some of the more coercive aspects of their health care proposal.

According to the plan, in order to force those who would rather drop health insurance coverage altogether (e.g., the young, and the healthy), the government would fine anyone $1,000 for refusing to pay for private insurance, or one of the government alternatives.

In a twist of words that would surely make Karl Marx proud, the Democrats have dubbed the fines "shared responsibility payments."

True to form, the mainstream press is not so much opposed a supportive.  The AP characterized the coercive nature of the fines as a 'nudge'

Called "shared responsibility payments," the fines would be set at least half the cost of basic medical coverage, according to the legislation. The goal is to nudge people to sign up for coverage when they are healthy, not wait until they get sick.


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The problem, of course, is that the young and healthy would be forced to pay for coverage they do not necessarily need, while those who might genuinely have other spending priorities would be forced to pay for coverage they do not want - or be fined.  The bottom line results in a net loss of freedom for the individual to decide how to spend his or her money. 

Or as the Democrats might pithily suggest, Uncle Sam knows best.