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Originally Posted by Noah930

Listen, I didn't mean my above comment in any snide way. It's just that we live in a society that thinks everyone should be granted everything, because we can. Well, maybe we can in terms of technology, but that doesn't mean we can, logistically and financially. I see you recognize that last point. But you're missing the part of societal expectations/norms.

We have a spectrum of societal expectations. On the socialist end they want "someone" to take care of everything for them. On the conservative end they want to control their lives themselves. The system I propose provides a large enough pool for the socialists to adequately function and it gives an incentive to the young and healthy to start paying into the system against future needs. It also allows the conservatives to opt out of a shared-risk system.

Originally Posted by Noah930

Then, there all sorts of practical problems: What happens when a non-emancipated minor needs medical care but they have parents who opted out of your system? F 'em? What happens when someone is brought in to an ER without ID/proof of coverage? Tough day to forget your wallet at home, huh? How about non-responsive people? What happens when, faced with the reality of a potentially serious/fatal medical condition, a person suddenly cries out that they want care after all? What happens when people fake their finances to get that emergent/urgent care, and then sneak away without paying the bill?

I doubt the constitutionality of the current law which makes everyone buy health insurance and I expect the savings from a large pool of participants isn't going to happen, but I do think it would be constitutional to create a law that required you to take care of your children.
If you come to the ER without ID/proof or unresponsive you would of course be treated at the discretion of the hospital. Leaving without paying or without making an arrangement to pay is theft of service. It would be equivalent to taking a car on a test drive and never bringing it back. It's a felony and it's not handled by bill collectors, it's handled by the police. You go to jail and liens are put on your property.

Originally Posted by Noah930

Your plan is somewhat based upon people making rational, logical, well thought out decisions. Guess what? People make stupid personal decisions all the time. But we live in a society that tries to socialize responsibility. Your plan goes in the face of that. I think that's why it fails to reflect our national consensus.

You are absolutely right that we live in a society that tries to socialize responsibility and that is one of the problems. Irresponsibility is at the heart of the current problem. We can't simply keep cleaning up after irresponsible people. We have to make an effort to get them to think about getting sick before it happens. With my plan each adult has a clear opportunity every year to decided to pay into a universal system, go it alone, or buy his own insurance and it can be made very clear to him that whatever he decides is his decision for the next year and he will be held to it. We won't break people away from it without resolve on our part.