I think the critics of Obamacare have a point that there is a difference between requiring health insurance and requiring car insurance because in the latter case one can simply refuse to drive. But I would rather analogize the requirement of having health insurance with military conscription. Conscription is certainly not voluntary. But people can be exempted from military service if they have a legitimate conscientious objection to military service. So why not let people similarly prove a philosophical, religious or moral objection to being insured in order to be exempted from having to obtain or purchase health insurance?
Of course in order to take such a position one would necessarily have to be without health insurance. It would be ludicrous to claim a conscientious objection to health insurance if one did in fact have health insurance. Andy Harris is a good case in point.
Just as there are few people who actually can prove a conscientious objection to exempt themselves from all military service I think there are probably very few people who are willing to risk going uninsured.
Paul R. Schlitz Jr., Baltimore