Florida Attorney General McCollum investigates legality of health insurance mandate

Florida's Attorney General Bill McCollum directed his staff this week to investigate the legality of provisions in Federal health care reform legislations that would impose huge fines on citizens who don't obtain health insurance. The provisions require uninsured individuals to purchase health insurance or else face stiff penalties. With the high cost of health insurance, many people choose to not obtain insurance. There are also some people who rely on forms of health care or treatment that are not covered under insurance plans, and therefore don't wish to pay for services that they would not be using. This includes some people whose religious beliefs oppose most or all medical interventions as well as some individuals who use only natural therapies. McCollum's staff would be investigating whether the insurance mandate is a violation of protections of individual liberty.

Supporters of the mandates claim that these provisions are needed to ensure that there are no longer uninsured people getting free hospital services and driving up the cost for everyone else. Ironically, many of the people who get these medical services without paying are non-citizens, including illegal residents who would not be subject to the fine mandated by the legislations since they are not citizens with social security numbers monitored by the IRS. Critics of the current health care system often point out that many doctors and hospitals provide many unnecessary tests and treatments which drive up the cost of insurance. This may be fueling the health care cost rises more than the cost of caring for the uninsured. The monopoly of pharmaceutical treatments is also a major factor in the huge cost for health insurance. Efforts to block availability of low-cost generic and imported medications have continued, and the FDA continues to support the pharmaceutical industry in suppressing information about inexpensive natural alternatives. Insurance plans generally pay for medications but not for natural treatments.

The current Federal health care legislations attempt to force everyone to pay for health insurance plans that are aligned with the pharmaceutical dominated medical system. This is apparently an attempt to increase the profits of health insurance and pharmaceutical companies by applying legal force to increase their customer base. Florida and other states are now questioning the legality of these laws, and the public's right to avoid paying into corporate monopolies is at stake.

Attorney General McCollum referred to the mandate as a "living tax," pointing out that it is different than auto insurance mandates where people are choosing to drive a car and only those who drive have to buy insurance. With health care insurance mandates, anyone who lives in the USA would be forced to buy expensive insurance, although it would be difficult to enforce the noncompliance fine/tax on illegal residents. Some observers have pointed out that uninsured drivers are common even with the laws requiring insurance being present. Thus, the laws impose high costs on law-abiding citizens while those who ignore laws often remain unaffected.  Americans desire health care reform, yet what has been offered thus far is directed toward benefiting large corporations rather than truly promoting competition and lower health care costs.