That's true, but it is irrelevant. As long as insurance companies and hospitals are privately owned, putting a requirement like this one on them constitutes theft of their resources. If you want to have them engaging in charity, set up a charity and solicit money instead. ie, you can ask but you don't have permission to steal.
I think the government has a right to do whatever it needs to do to maintain
You don't think very well then.
the health and well-being of its population. That is the purpose of the government.
Not in the United States of America it isn't.
Everybody dies of something. Some are likely to die sooner than others, due to accidents of birth or extreme lifestyle. That is reality. I persist in thinking that "freedom" means everybody gets to decide how to use his/her own talents and property and how to deal with his/her own deficiencies, genetic or otherwise.
That is one way of defining freedom. I view freedom as the right of people to live happy, productive lives. A discriminatory policy such as this one would infringe on that freedom.
You have been completely brainwashed. You have a no idea what a "right" is.
I also persist in believing that, as a philosophical point, nobody who is *compelled* to do something can be considered a good person for doing it. I also feel that history has shown us that those who receive charity compelled from others have never appreciated the work and sacrifice that it represents. Compelled charity is morally and emotionally meaningless.
Fine, so the insurance companies won't be considered "good." Who cares? The point is, people who need medical care would be getting it.
The point is that you are *forcing* me to part with my productive labor to support someone else. This makes me unhappy. Under your beliefs, you can't do this, as I have a right to be happy. -- A quote from Petro's Archives: ********************************************** "We forbid any course that says we restrict free speech." --Dr. Kathleen Dixon, Director of Women s Studies, Bowling Green State University