Auto Insurance vs. Health Insurance - for Hillary- Part 1

Hillary is unveiling her Universal Health Care plan and according to preliminary reports and this article, it's going to rely on the individual mandate:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070917/ap_on_el_pr/clinton_health_care;_ylt=Ap79AAi7EvsMRwgrY71BSe.yFz4D

The "Individual Mandate" requires all individuals to purchase health insurance. The thinking is that mandatory insurance laws are fairly effective for auto insurance and worker's comp, why not apply it to health insurance. To be fair, Hillary isn't the only one making this mistake. Mitt Romney has touted his Massachuesetts plan which utilizes a similar theory.

Here are some reasons why these two types of insurance are too different to assume that health insurance can be handled in a similar fashion to auto insurance.

1) Not everyone has a car but everyone is going to have health insurance. Purchasing an automobile and putting gas in it requires money. A driver's license is also required. These factors already present a weeding out process. By requirining licenses and an automobile ownership, you're already limiting the pool. Universal Health Care does not. You have this coverage the moment you enter the US. I've got news for Hillary and advocates of plans like these - if you don't pay for auto insurance and you pay cash for a car and drive it off the lot - you don't have auto insurance.

2) Auto Insurance rates consider your "history." Hillary says that " companies would no longer be able to deny coverage for pre-existing conditions or genetic predisposition to certain illnesses. " Your rates are based on your driving history. That's reason most of us can afford insurance - we're rewarded for our good behavoir. If they simply divided the amount in claims paid and the cost of handling them by the #s of policyholders, alot of folks would be priced out of the market.

3) Auto Insurers Will Deny Coverage If You Don't Pay Your Premiums - This is a little like the first item but it's a key difference between the 2 policy lines. You pay your insurance premiums every year/every 6 months or every month. If you don't pay them, you will no longer have coverage. Your auto insurance company cancels a lot of policies. Just think if they couldn't cancel those policies. What if you had to pay for the short fall- what would that do your auto insurance rates? Hillary says that the details of how those who don't insure themselves haven't been worked out. She says there's a possibility that those who don't carry this insurance would be docked certain tax deductions, but we know this much. She won't be denying coverage or benefits.

4) Policies in Most States Have Limits to the Amount They Will Cover - Most auto insurance policies in most states have a "mandatory minimum" clause. Simply put, they will only cover up to a certain dollar amount. Anyone can tell you that an auto accident with severe injuries usually uses these limits up quickly with little left over for pain and suffering. If auto insurance companies had a responsibility for a limitless amount of coverage for all accidents - do you think most drivers could afford it?

There are certainly other key differences, but these are some big ones. Simply put, if auto insurace policies were required to cover every American, could never cancel someone, couldn't judge someone on their driving record and had to be responsible for damages with significantly higher limits - how many people could afford it?