[vladekad]

LA Times: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...,5800522.story

Until the healthcare law passed last year, requiring medical insurance had a long history as a mainstream GOP idea.

It was promoted by conservative policy experts at places like the Heritage Foundation more than 20 years ago. In the 1990s, the concept was championed by Republicans on Capitol Hill.

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Emphasizing personal responsibility, Pauly and other conservatives have argued that the uninsured incur medical bills as other Americans do; the tab is just picked up by someone else.

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So too did the Heritage Foundation's Stuart Butler, who in 1989 wrote a health plan that also included an insurance requirement.

"If a young man wrecks his Porsche and has not had the foresight to obtain insurance, we may commiserate, but society feels no obligation to repair his car," Butler told a Tennessee health conference that year.

"But healthcare is different. If a man is struck down by a heart attack in the street, Americans will care for him whether or not he has insurance.… A mandate on individuals recognizes this implicit contract," said Butler, who was the foundation's director of domestic policy studies.