I feel a bit silly actually writing a post explaining that things with "insurance" in the name aren't all the same, but such is life. So long as non-compliance with auto insurance mandates is going to be tossed up as an argument against health insurance mandates, though, it's probably worth explaining why the two are not alike. 1) You Can Drive Without Swiping Your Auto Insurance: This is the most obvious, and most important, difference. If your car required proof of insurance to start, more people would be insured. But it doesn't. Cops don't even ask for insurance when they pull you over. The only time insurance is relevant is when you're in an accident. Health insurance mandates, by contrast, make proof of insurance a prerequisite to using the system. To see a doctor, you do have to swipe your insurance card. To enter a hospital, you do need to show proof of insurance. In the Edwards plan, you'll need to enter your policy number on your tax form. If you can't, you'll be enrolled in the basic plan. This alone will reduce noncompliance dramatically, because compliance will be necessary to use the health system. Auto insurance, by contrast, is not necessary to use a car. 2) Car accidents are less likely than flus: Everybody reading this has been to the doctor. Most reading this have never been in a car accident. People are not unaware of the relative rarity of those events. It's easy to skip car insurance under the theory that you will not need it. It will be harder to skip health insurance under the theory that you will not need it. (This is Obama's argument. The danger is that people will skip it until they do need it, as explained here.) 3) We do not subsidize auto insurance: At least so far as I know. By contrast, all of the major Democrats, including Obama, subsidize health insurance to 300 percent or 400 percent of the poverty line. If lower income folks were given help on auto insurance, more would purchase it. As it is, they will be given help on health insurance,and so more will purchase it. This isn't rocket science. It's also one of the useful things about a mandate: The very fact of its universality means a hue and a cry will go up if the government doesn't ensure affordability. Thus, the government has to ensure affordability, or publicly dismantle its mandate. My hunch is it will do the former. There are, of course, many more, but those should suffice for now.
