Us Health Insurance

The purpose of this paper is to analyze an article that relates to a critical regulatory issue in health care. Specifically, this paper will examine the article and explain how this issue relates to the nature, sources, and functions of the law.

The question that this paper will examine is in regards to whether the United States government should require the people to carry health insurance. Many issues arise due to this question. One such issue is whether the United States government should force employers to pay for the insurance (Health Care Mandates).

Currently most Americans who have insurance have it as a result of their employer who offers the insurance while paying part of the premium for the employee (Healthcare Mandates). Others who do not have health care insurance either cannot afford the premiums or do not have access to health care insurance.

In the United States there are currently 50 million people who are uninsured (Health Care Mandates). There are many reasons for people to be uninsured; some are uninsured by choice, others work part-time for organizations who do not offer health care to employees who are not full time, and some people are uninsured because of the cost of health care premiums.

According to AHN All Headline News (2009), A study completed by Families USA revealed that the cost of continuing health insurance under COBRA is simply too high for most unemployed Americans. Workers who have been laid off and are dependent upon unemployment funds to survive cannot afford the health care premiums that are offered by COBRA. Families USA states that the COBRA premiums cost more than three-fourths of unemployment benefits in 41 states and in nine of those states the premiums cost more than 100 percent of the unemployment benefits (AHN All Headline News, 2009). The unemployed quite honestly cannot afford to pay the COBRA premiums; therefore, they have no choice but to be uninsured.

Those who are not insured will quite...