[dkh]

Interestingly, despite the burden of uninsured/unpaid medical costs, many in America view universal health coverage as antithetical to "forcing people to take responsibility." Given how many people are provided insurance by having (or being married to someone who has) a full-time job (half the population), there are many who feel that not being covered means you don't have a proper job, and perhaps you should, and why should I pay into a system so that you can get coverage easier? This is, of course, completely absurd, but you'll have no trouble finding people who think this way.

In case you're wondering why having to foot the bill for all those uninsured hospital visits doesn't make the "taking responsibility" thing super obvious, it's because most people aren't aware of how much they are paying for it. Like many things here, uncompensated medical care is ultimately paid out of a combination of many different local, state, and federal sources. While we are all paying for it somehow, it is not obvious to an individual how many of their dollars went to it. Therefore, while unfortunate, many believe that an increase in monthly healthcare premiums (they know exactly how many of their dollars go to that) means they will be paying more overall, not the same or less, because they are either unclear on how much of their money is going to the uncompensated costs now, or they don't trust that their tax bills will actually decrease.

We're once again at a place where most Americans believe healthcare coverage should be guaranteed, but are miles apart on who they trust to actually handle it. [1]

[1] https://news.gallup.com/poll/468401/majority-say-gov-ensure-...