I am a safe driver. I’ve never had a car accident or ticket. As a consequence of my choices, I pay very low rates for car insurance. Other people I know have had accidents and many tickets, they pay a lot for car insurance. In this system, each person pays a different rate based on the consequences of their choices and actions. So what is wrong with this system? Why can’t we use the exact same system for health insurance? If I eat right, exercise, and wash my hands then I will rarely get ill and should pay very low insurance rates. My neighbor eats junk food, smokes, and never exercises, has lots of medical issues and will for as long as he lives, shouldn’t he pay a much higher rate for insurance? Why would anybody want a government system in which we will both pay the same rate? That is blatantly unfair to me since I make good choices and wont get sick as often. Furthermore, I have the choice of lots of different car insurance companies (Geico, Allstate, Nationwide, Progressive, etc.), this competition drives lower costs and better service. Why would I want to give up choice in favor of a monopoly? What is wrong with our car insurance system that somebody would not want the exact same system for our health care?

Health issues do not always arise based on the irresponsibility of the individual. A person could still get cancer from any number of factors, or suffer a life-threatening injury that requires immediate treatment, through no fault of their own.

There is one key difference between car insurance and health insurance: car insurance covers virtually everything, while health insurance is highly selective. If your car is significantly damaged in a wreck, one need not worry…even if the car is completely destroyed, you’re still covered. Your premium will rise a great deal, but you’re covered nonetheless. With private health insurance, companies that place financial interests over your health can severely limit your coverage options. They can deny you for treatments that they deem to expensive, unnecessary, or experimental.

The human body is a much more complex machine than any car…problems can occur at microscopic and undetectable levels, and unlike cars, some problems cannot be treated easily or even treated at all. All the diet and exercise in the world will not prevent, say, leukemia. And what about pre-existing conditions? If your car has something wrong with it before you buy it, you can simply return it for another one, free of charge. If there’s something wrong with you at birth, like sickle cell or diabetes, you can’t sue your mother, or your genes…and insurance companies can deny you on the basis of this condition.

But the bottom line is, people are not cars. Cars can be crafted to exact specifications, and their flaws are entirely the fault of the humans who build and operate them…which is not a real issue, as so many cars have such uniform parts that they can be replaced at any time…the entire vehicle can be replaced with an exact replica if necessary. But each of the hundreds of millions of humans in this country is distinct, fragile, and irreplaceable. We cannot simply replace a person’s DNA, or just remove cancer cells and put in healthy cells (yet…but of course those options fall under experimental treatments which insurance companies will not cover).

Car insurance theories cannot ethically be applied to human life. Keeping profits as a priority over vehicular health, another consumer product, is fine. But placing profit over human health is where society should draw the line.