You have to own a car, though. The state makes you buy car insurance because you can do a lot of damage to other people and their property with a car. They own

You have to own a car, though. The state makes you buy car insurance because you can do a lot of damage to other people and their property with a car. They own the roads, so they're responsible for making sure you can pay for that damage. Texas, for instance, doesn't actually make you buy insurance. You only have to prove that you can be financially responsible for the damage you could cause [1]. Why is this relevant? You made the claim that "The sole purpose of the mandate is to make free-riding on the insurance market unlawful" The medically uninsured only pose a financial threat to themselves. It's only through laws that make taxpayers responsible for the medical costs of the uninsured that they pose a threat to the rest of us. This mandate won't change anything in that respect. It will just make the line from taxpayer money to person who can't pay for his medical bills harder to follow. [1] http://www.dmv.org/tx-texas/car-insurance.php http://www.dmv.org/tx-texas/car-insurance.php edited for clarity