Imagine you come down with some symptoms of Ebola. Here's a handy infographic describing them:
So let's say you have the day 7-9 symptoms of "headache, fatigue, fever, muscle soreness". No big deal, right? Probably just the flu. You would go to the doctor, but you're uninsured, so it would cost maybe a hundred bucks. So you don't go. And you continue going to work because you'll lose your job if you miss work and you don't have a doctor's note.
You infect everyone at your job. With Ebola. If you had gone to the doctor and he had recognized the symptoms, you would have been put in isolation, and no one else would have been infected.
This isn't just a hypothetical situation. There are plenty of people in America who get very sick and don't go to the hospital because it will ruin them financially. And this happens to the detriment of everyone in society.
It's a net positive for everyone for people to feel free to get medical aid. If we could spend a billion dollars of taxpayer money to prevent a virus from killing millions and disrupting global commerce, it would be a no-brainer. So even if you're looking at it from a self-centered, "I want only what's best for me" standpoint, insuring everyone makes sense.
A 1993 study said it would only cost an additional $856 per person in taxes to give everyone health insurance. Isn't it obvious that this is the way we should go?
