The individual mandate is modest in amount in comparison to the cost of medical insurance. It's far less "coercive" than most state laws that require drivers to affirmatively maintain insurance.
Sure it's an incentive - an incentive to be responsible. Anyone who "can't afford healthcare" is going to pass his medical costs on to you and me. The ACA's failure isn't the mandate, but the lack of affordable choices in the marketplace. The AHCA can hopefully fix that - and effectively replace your hated mandate by allowing insurance companies to penalize free riders with higher premiums.
It really gets me that government will let millions of illegal aliens into the country. Invite them in to get their free insurance, dental, cash and food stamps. When it comes to struggling Americans we force a mandate that they must buy expensive health care many will not even use. Medical costs are outrageous even when you have insurance. I do. But when I was forced to get insurance on my own because my corporation was given a waver from mandate (under Obama) my family insurance was 1 and 1/2 of my monthly mortgage. That is outrageous for people who work in manufacturing type jobs.
You can say it isn't your fault my job pays low wages. True, maybe. But for many years politicians have been having an open door for illegal immigration and that has driven wages down for American workers. If you want a job you will take the lower wage the immigrant is getting. Means people like myself are making less than we did in the 1990's. And taxes, local and Federal have gone up. Food and housing up. Everything up but your wages.
I did get stuck a few years ago with a medical bill I had to pay because I didn't have insurance. I made monthly payments. It was thousands of dollars and they determined how much a month. It hurt but I paid it off. Cost me less than what health insurance would have cost. So in the end I paid less. You would have me tack on that mandate fee to the already outrageous medical bill.
If the government made a catastrophic insurance plan with low premium people could choose it would be better. That way nobody is stuck paying for freeloader. And keep in mind even with insurance the patient has to pay a good portion of their own medical bills. Out of pocket maximums. High deductibles.
Even car insurance has liability only insurance. Government has to be realistic and understand if you put a mandate for expensive insurance you are forcing people to choose between food and housing or paying a fine for government health insurance.
