if an uninsured person goes to a hospital with an emergency, most hospitals will treat them, and the cost gets passed to you and me. NOT having insurance....even just minimal insurance....creates disease and health and social problems that affect all of society. It would be FAR better to control problems in some organized way, rather than let 15-25% of society fall thru the cracks and eventually cost the system more than if they were reasonably insured in the first place.