Following on John Edwards’ unveiling of his socialized medicine platform, here comes Hillarycare, the sequel.

Thirteen years after her first effort at improving the nation’s health care was abandoned, Hillary Rodham Clinton offered a new approach that would require every American to have health insurance with federal assistance to help defray the cost.

Nothing like mandated “choice”.

“Insurance” is simply a contract one enters whereby the insurer guarantees to indemnify the insured against loss. We have the right to choose when and how we enter into contracts, but Democrats want to take that choice away… despite what they call it.

“But what about the mandate for drivers to carry insurance?”, they say…

The centerpiece of Clinton’s “American Health Choices Plan” is the so-called “individual mandate,” requiring everyone to have health insurance — just as most states require drivers to purchase auto insurance. Rival John Edwards has also offered a plan that includes an individual mandate, while the proposal outlined by Barack Obama does not.

States also require lawyers to carry malpractice insurance when practicing law. Doctors must carry malpractice insurance when practicing medicine. (Both to protect clients from malpractice) Mortgagors require homebuyers to carry private mortgage insurance if the downpayment is less than 20% of the mortgage (to protect the lendor against a borrower’s default).

But there are some big differences between health insurance and all the “mandated” types of insurance mentioned above. Health insurance is an inward-facing protection, where the others are outward-facing. This means that one purchases health insurance to hedge against a future out-of-pocket expense for his or her own (and family’s) care. Mandated insurance like auto, malpractice, mortgage, etc is designed to protect others from acts of the insured.

The other big difference is that those other types of insurance (including the auto insurance Hillary refers to) are also examples of “choice” despite being “mandated”. For instance, you only have to purchase auto insurance if you CHOOSE to drive a car. You only have to purchase mortgage insurance if you CHOOSE to take out a loan to buy a house with less than 20% down. You only have to purchase malpractice insurance if you CHOOSE a profession that requires it.

So what about those who don’t drive, buy a home, or practice law or medicine? Should they be forced to buy insurance for each activity anyway? Only then would Democrats’ comparison to auto insurance be relevant.

It’s true the Democrats’ plans are all about choice… so long as it’s their choice we’re talking about.

UPDATE:
So does HillaryCare 2.0 cover illegals? When her campaign was asked about it, they said they’ll have to get back to us on that.

Senior [Clinton] policy adviser Laurie Rubiner–-while acknowledging that undocumented immigrants are a “huge issue” in this country–-said, “That’s one we’re going to have to think through a little bit.”

“We have not dealt with every single detail with this plan,” Rubiner continued.

And it’s already at $110 billion? Imagine what this will cost when they do decide to get around to the details.

UPDATE 2:
It’s amazing that the same people claiming Bush’s administration is too intrusive in their personal lives would support this proposal:

[Hillary] said she could envision a day when “you have to show proof to your employer that you’re insured as a part of the job interview — like when your kid goes to school and has to show proof of vaccination,” but said such details would be worked out through negotiations with Congress.

UPDATE 3:
Apparently the socialized Canadian healthcare system is such a model of success, liberal members of Parliament are coming to the U.S. for healthcare.

1. Mandating Choice

   As you know, I rarely repost blog posts in their entirety. But rarely doesn’t mean never.Via Texas Rainmaker:Following on John Edwards’ unveiling of his socialized medicine platform, here comes Hillarycare, the sequel.Thirteen
   years after her first…

   Trackback by The Conservative Manifesto — 12:08 pm
   

2. The return of HillaryCare

   Hillary’s failed attempts at “reforming” healthcare via advocating universal healthcare are front and center again, as today she revealed her ‘new’ $110 billion healthcare ‘plan’:
   DES MOINES, Iowa - Democratic …

   Trackback by Sister Toldjah — 1:51 pm
   

3. 47 million “uninsured” divided into $110 billion dollars is more than $2,300 per “uninsured” person per year. Does decent coverage really cost that much?

   Comment by SouthernRoots — 7:10 pm
   

4. Wow. I bet this “show proof of insurance to your prospective employer” will be as effective as the current “show proof of eligibility to work in USA to your prospective employer” rule. Just more fake documents and identity theft…

   Comment by Old Army Guy — 12:38 pm
   

5. Along Old Army Guy’s thinking, if an illegal alien can acquire health insurance [legitimately]… then they won’t have to show proof of citizenship (or legal worker status)? Perhaps there is a silk lining to the sow’s ear… perhaps the illegal alien’s will stop stealing our SSN info.

   Anyone else want a hit on this stuff???

   Comment by Old Soldier — 6:35 pm
   

6. Your inward/outward-facing argument is very short-sighted. It has long been clear that Dems (and esp Hillary) want the citizenry totally reliant on government for their every need (”cradle to grave”). Their ideal would be for government to be providing all health care, and so mandating health insurance protects the government from the great unwashed (another important issue to the DNC), and thereby, it becomes an outward-facing issue.

   Your other argument doesn’t wash, either. You argue from the stance that choice is a good (or at least neutral) thing. Choice is consummate evil. We aren’t smart enough to makes choices. IThe fact that you oppose this plan proves that point.) We have to have the government make all the decisions for us. The only valid choice that we should be afforded is what to do with a fetus, and then only if the choice is to abort.

   Slowly removing tongue from cheek

   Re: will this apply to illegal aliens? Two thoughts:

   1) Now really, has their been a more prominent issue in 2007 US than illegal immigration? And yet, they haven’t considered it.

   2) I hope they do think that part through. Then this will be the train of thought over at Hillary Headquarters:

   * This plan is all about taking away rights from the citizenry.
   * “Undocumented workers” aren’t citizens, though, so it wouldn’t apply.
   * But we treat them like citizens, so they should have the same rights as citizens.
   * Which we then would take away.
   **** HEAD EXPLODES ****

   Comment by brendt — 3:05 pm
   

7. Socialist healthcare theory: you are a smoking, overweight drunk with six kids. I exercise daily and eat only fruit/vegetables.

   Now, let’s pay for each other’s healthcare. We each give $7,000 per year to the federal government to administer each one’s healthcare, complete with government forms, subject to government approval, and to pay for the overhead to run the programs. And if I am 25 years old and healthy I will go to jail if I refuse to pay my taxes.

   Hillary, what a great idea. This, and your support of spanish as an official language will allow poor illegals who don’t pay any taxes to protect their families. This really will help slave wage employers to keep the invasion coming…

   Of course, the masses of low income will vote for this. There should be a constitutional amendment to prevent money theft by vote. Ron Paul for president.

   Comment by rhodes — 6:16 pm
   

8. One of the tiresome things about illegal alien supporters is their subtle lies such as the misuse of the word “immigrant” when discussing ilegal aliens. Such as: “The immigrant has received sanctury in a Chicago church for the last year…”

   Why does an “immigrant” need protection from deportation?

   Another favorite lie is “non citizen,” implying they could be a legal green card holder.

   More often than not when reading a “reporters” account I have to read very carefully, between the lines, to determine that “immigrants” are not immigrants at all. So much for objective, impartial MSM reports.

   Comment by rhodes — 1:59 pm
   

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