Health Insurance is Not Like Auto Insurance « Publius Forum

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-By Warner Todd Huston

During his healthcare speech last week, President Obama tried to compare his idea of compulsory health insurance to the practice of mandatory auto insurance now in effect in most of the States of the Union.

But as a recent Fox News piece by Judson Berger proves , car insurance is nothing like forced healthcare insurance. The main reason the two do not compare well is that mandatory auto insurance covers other people, not the driver. But forced healthcare insurance covers the individual, not any indemnity against the individual’s actions against others.

Additionally, there isn’t anything truly compulsory about mandatory auto insurance. After all, it isn’t mandatory that one drive. If you don’t want to pay for the insurance, don’t drive. Additionally, there is no compulsion to pay for insurance that covers yourself or your car.

On the other hand, compulsory health insurance is far more intrusive than mandatory car insurance. It cannot be avoided without penalty of law, it is not a safety measure to cover others for your own negligence, it can’t be avoided even by moving to another state and it most certainly is un-Constitutional.

This singular fact is why it must be un-Constitutional. This is truly a tax on breathing. If you are breathing you owe the government a tax to keep you breathing as far as Obama is concerned. Not only that but you own a tax to allow everyone else to breath, as well. This compulsory insurance is nothing less than the assumption that government owns your body.

Obama’s chief claim is that he is trying to “reform” the health insurance industry, not replace it. That being the case, he is not requiring citizens to pay the government for that healthcare. He is mandating that we buy insurance from a private company to avoid his fines. But the Constitution does not give government the power to force citizens to buy things, the Constitution only gives the government the right to levy taxes. Buying insurance is not a “tax” per se.

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Homeowners insurance jumps 9.7 percent in Ohio

19.07.10

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Homeowners insurance rates jumped an average of 9.7 percent in Ohio last year, the fallout from historic storm damage and one of the largest increases in recent years, government regulators said Monday.

Premiums jumped in 2009 after a round of severe weather in 2008 that included remnants of Hurricane Ike battering homes and businesses and knocking out power to millions. Insurance companies paid out $1.4 billion in claims from that storm, making it one of the costliest natural disasters in Ohio history.

State Insurance Director Mary Jo Hudson said she expects 2010 rates to be similar because of more weather-related claims and building costs.

A storm and tornadoes that ripped through northwest Ohio in early June caused at least $22.1 million in damage. Six people died in the tornadoes that destroyed dozens of homes near Toledo.

Regulators will continue to monitor insurance markets and assure that Ohioans have access to competitive coverage, Hudson said.

Source: The Associated Press

Auto Insurance- News

A Health Insurance Mandate That Works Like Auto Insurance? Think Again FOXNews - Sep 14, 2009 Times Online"That's why under my plan, individuals will be required to carry basic health insurance -- just as most states require you to carry auto insurance. Obama's Health Care Speech: A Common Sense RebuttalObama Gives Health Care Reform SpeechObama on 60 Minutes: Health care reform woes caused by 'political  -all 7,266 news articles »

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