The fact is if you have health insurance you are likely to engage in preventative care activities (eg regular primary care visits) that you would otherwise avoi

The fact is if you have health insurance you are likely to engage in preventative care activities (eg regular primary care visits) that you would otherwise avoid without insurance, however you look at it, this is a good thing. The fact that people may run to the ER unnecessarily even with insurance is perhaps a reflection of other problems (maybe too many hypochondriacs Googling :)? ), but that isn't a reason to not make healthcare accessible. If the choice is between people over say 60 desperately holding on to jobs because they can't afford health insurance on their own, versus young people getting opportunities to start their own lives then the choice for me a rather simple one. PS: I have no ideological axe to grind in this matter. If we are going to live in a modern society, these are problems that have to be dealt with somehow. I grew up in a place and a time where people died in gutters (no exaggeration) from hunger and disease, that is the difference between a modern civilized society and one that isn't so. It is a choice that has to be made. The dignity that is afforded to people by social programs is a dignity consequently bestowed upon all of us.