Republican Governor Mitt Romney is proposing that all citizens of Massachusetts be required to purchase health insurance, join a government-subsidized program, or face a financial penalty. His plan is being touted as a free-market alternative to proposals being pushed by advocates of single-payer health care. Its compulsory feature is similar, in some ways, to the mandate proposed by congressional Republicans after the Clinton administration called for universal coverage in the fall of 1993.
What?s wrong with the government mandating individuals to purchase health insurance?
The Cato Institute analyzed the Republican?s 1993 plan and pointed out why a mandate is dangerous to liberty. Following are excerpts from that Cato Policy Analysis:
· ?Once we presume that government is ultimately responsible for guaranteeing that every American has health insurance, we also guarantee a permanent
role for politicians in determining an accompanying set of issues. Once government mandates insurance coverage, it must define what constitutes ?adequate? insurance coverage for each citizen.?
· ?By endorsing the concept of compulsory universal insurance coverage, [the bill] undermines the traditional principles of personal liberty
and individual responsibility that provide essential bulwarks against all-intrusive governmental control of health care.?