How do you feel about the health care bill?

Mike Mulroy, finance director of College Republicans: One thing that bugs me is how the health care bill mandates you to get health insurance. There are people who don’t want it.

I’m not saying that’s a good thing because they’re cheating the system, but I know people who don’t want to pay for health insurance so they’ll go to the hospital and say they don’t have insurance.

But they don’t want health insurance, and this bill is going to force them to get it.

Kirsten Jones, chair of College Democrats: I think living in a society requires people to do things that they wouldn’t necessarily do on their own.

The government mandates lots of things: You have to drive 65 mph on the highway, you have to go to school. There are lots of things that are mandated for your good, but you might not necessarily want to do.

So by the government mandating insurance, it’s saying this is for your own good. You might not like it, but it’s making society better.

Mike: But it’s my life. What if I don’t want health insurance? Why should I be forced to buy it?

Kirsten: Why should you be forced to drive 65 mph on the highway?

Mike: That’s different. They’re not making you drive 65 mph, you just can’t go over it. With health insurance, they’re saying you must buy it.

That’s like the government mandating that everyone buy a computer. It’s for your own good, you’ll have access to the Internet, but why should I?

Kirsten: Because everyone gets sick. Everyone needs health care. Everyone doesn’t need a computer.

Whereas if you are a person that says, “I don’t need health care,” you’re going to get sick eventually, you’re going to need a shot, you’re going to need medications. So you’re going to have to draw on the health care system.

Mike: What if I wanted to pay for it myself? Why should I have to go through an insurance company?

Kirsten: Because that raises costs for everybody, because…

Mike: If I’m paying for a doctor myself?

Kirsten: Because not everyone can do that, so …

Mike: Right, so let’s help out people who can’t afford to rather than making everybody buy this now.

Kirsten: But it’s going to lower costs if everyone buys into the system to make the insurance pool larger.

Mike: Right, but I don’t like when the government forces you to do something. You’re saying they need to do it for money, and that’s just more government intrusion in our lives.

Personally, I think you should buy health insurance, but I don’t think the government should force you to do it. The government doesn’t force you to buy food, but you need food to stay healthy. It’s still a personal choice.

I do think the government should be helping people who can’t afford health insurance. There has to be reform there. If you want health insurance, you should be able to get it, so I agree on that standpoint.

Kirsten: If the government didn’t force people, right now, you see the effects: People don’t pay into the system and costs go up for everybody else.

You don’t have to buy the most expensive package. You can buy the cheapest package available and have bare-bones insurance and that’ll be OK, as long as you have insurance.

Mike: But they’re saying you have to buy insurance, period. See, what if I wanted to pay for it myself?

Why do I have to go through some insurance company? If I don’t get sick very often, and I only go to the doctor every couple years, then why would I want to be paying so much money?

Kirsten: Because you don’t know that’s going to happen.

You could be in a car accident and rack up thousands of dollars in medical bills and not be able afford it.

The hospital must cover those expenses and has to charge other people higher fees to cover the bill.

Mike: What about the people who don’t pay taxes? Like people who aren’t citizens? They don’t pay taxes, and yet they’re going to get health insurance coverage.

Kirsten: You should make them pay into the system and get coverage.

But a lot of Republicans in the House and Senate are saying “Well they’re illegal, they shouldn’t be covered by this system.”

So in essence it’s the Republicans holding up this problem. It would make a lot more sense if you had the illegal immigrants get coverage because they’re paying into the system.

Mike: Would they do that any way when they can already do it for free? Wouldn’t it be nice if I could come into this country and not have to pay taxes?

I would do that right now. But that fact is I already pay taxes on my job during the summer, I’m gonna pay taxes the rest of my life, I can’t get out of that. So I’m saying what’s the incentive for them to go buy it?

Kirsten: There’d be an individual mandate. They’d have to.