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Mia Gilbert
LBST 2213, Language, Mind, and Power
Dr. Dan Boisvert
October 18, 2016
Should American Citizens Be Required to have Health Insurance?
Many Americans find the United States care reform law to be one that causes much
controversy. Since March 23, 2010, all citizens of the United States have been required to
purchase some form of health insurance. The initial goal of this was to create a system in which
all people would have some form of health coverage, called Universal Health Care. As people
living under the United States Constitution, we are given the right to think and act as we please
as long as it falls within the law, and so we were given what are called unalienable rights, or
rights that cannot be taken away from us for any reason. The United States Constitution states,
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by
their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of
Happiness,(US, 1776). The overall context implies that we as American people are allowed to
make our own personal decisions for our own personal reasons. Unfortunately, the Affordable
Care Act has revoked these rights from the people in an unjust manner. The lower class is most
affected by this change, in ways more than one, beginning with how negatively impacted their
lives will be. With attempts to uphold the foundation of this country and to keep the people of the
lower class safe from having their rights revoked, the United States government should not force
its people to purchase healthcare by any means.
To no ones surprise, a large majority of the people pushing this mandate have already
acquired health insurance, and wish to have lower premiums for their own personal benefit.

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Michael F. Cannon, director of health policy studies at the Cato Institute, stated Even if the
mandate were popular and constitutional, it would still be a bad idea. It will increase premiums,
cost shifting and government rationing, while promoting irresponsibility. Indeed, its entire
purpose is to enable supporters to avoid responsibility for their decisions, (Cannon, 2012). For
the most part, many of the insured people fall into either the upper or middle classes, mainly
because these people are more likely to comfortably afford their own health care. In the same
sense, Karen Davenport, the former director of health policy at the National Women's Law
Center, said that, A decision not to pay for insurance- to become a free rider- leads hospitals and
other providers to charge other patients more to make up the difference. People shouldnt have
the freedom to shift the burden to everybody else (Davenport, 2012). Meaning that at the very
least, those without any insurance will be able to be seen healthcare professionals if it is an
emergency, and nothing less. Unfortunately, this means that the normal cost of healthcare for
many providers will have to increase in order to support the lost profits of supporting those who
have chose not to purchase insurance of their own. This is where the problem arises, no one able
person should have to support another able person simply because they chose not to support
themselves. This just causes people to blow off the fact that there are certain things that they
should be doing for themselves, such as purchasing their own health insurance, instead of relying
on someone else to do it for them. Kim Geiger and James Oliphant state in their article that, If
only sick people bought insurance, the system would collapse because plans would be forced to
pay out more than they took in, (Geiger and Oliphant, 2009), meaning that the entire system
would eventually collapse due to funding. Although these points make up a good argument, the
American people still should not be made to purchase health insurance.

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Nonetheless, majority of the people against the mandate fall into the lower class category
of US citizens. These people strongly uphold their constitutional rights and feel as though they
should not be forced to purchase their health care by any means. By taking away their rights, the
government is violating the very grounds it stands upon, therefore causing its people to lose their
decision making abilities when it comes to what they want in life. For many of these people,
these forced changes would mean that their lifestyles would hereby be altered unwillingly at the
hands of the government that is supposed to be ... by the people, for the people. (Lincoln,
1863). Many people are unfeeling to the fact that most people of the lower class barely make
enough money to sustain their families, and adding one more bill to the stack could drastically
alter their day-to-day life in ways more than one could imagine. The fact of the matter is, some
people just cannot afford it, but this does not mean that they should be denied health care if in
need. For this very reason, there are programs put in place to assist people in these situations
such as the State Health Insurance Assistance Program, Medicaid, and many others.
In conclusion, none of the American people should be forced to purchase health insurance
in any form, This is a decision that is to be made by the people as individuals, and not forced
upon them as a mandate. Truthfully, based upon the constitution, there is no legal basis for
requiring one to purchase anything, let alone something they cannot afford. It is unjust, and the
mere idea should never have been pushed so far. America is titled Land of the Free and/or
Land of Opportunity because people are allowed to make their own decisions with rights given
to them by the very document the country itself was founded upon. By disturbing one's rights in
such a manner, the government also corrupts one's sense of self, causing them to think that they
have no say in how they are to spend what money they may have. Doing so also opens the gate
for the government to force other purchases to be made among American people, which is not

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right in any context. Accordingly, no person or group of any kind should be allowed to disturb
the rights of an individual.

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References
Cannon, M. and Davenport, K. (23 January, 2012). Should Everyone Be Required To Have
Health Insurance? No: Premiums Will Rise. Yes: It's The Key To Reform. Retrieved October 15,
2016 from
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970204124204577152842650354880
Geiger, K. and Oliphant, J (1 November, 2009). Reader Questions on House Healthcare Bill.
Retrieved October 16, 2016 from
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/nov/01/nation/la-na-healthcare-qa1-2009nov01
Lincoln, A. Gettysburg Address, 3rd Paragraph (19 November, 1863)
US Declaration of Independence, 2nd Paragraph (July 1776).