Analogy doesn't work

Reader comment on: Richard Epstein on the Oil Spill

Submitted by Todd S. (United States), Jun 17, 2010 16:32

I really think you're stretching to make an analogy to individuals buying insurance. Two points: the current healthcare legislation would force you to purchase a product just because you were born in America. No one is forcing people to drill for oil as a way to make a living. Secondly, there's no adverse effect to others if I don't live a healthy life-style, so there's no reason to require a purchase of health insurance (ignoring the original federal government interference in the healthcare sector). And while typing this I thought of a third reason: the healthcare legislation forces individuals to buy a pre-paid healthcare plan, not solely insurance (in fact it eliminates a lot of high-deductible, catastrophic-only alternatives).

So I'm not really seeing how the two are related.

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