I recently heard Missouri voters rejected the insurance mandate in the new federal health care act. Perhaps the mandate is unconstitutional, but if that is the case, the right-leaning Supreme Court will overturn it. This got me to thinking however, maybe libertarianism might be the solution after all, we'd just need to make some adjustments to some of our cultural values.
So here goes:
If you choose not to have insurance or you cannot afford to buy insurance, it should be legal for hospitals and EMTs to refuse to treat you. Medical personnel would be held financially responsible if they show pity and try to give an uninsured help. The rule should "be deny treatment until proof of ability to pay has been established". Cities, counties state and the federal government should be legally banned from using tax dollars to pay for indigent care. Uninsured, injured individuals in a car accident, for instance, will remain at the scene until they either manage to leave by other means or die. Body scavengers could sell the resulting cadavers to medical schools or wherever the market might dictate, further relieving tax payers the cost of cleanup. An added advantage is that this would provide for new job opportunities!
If health care is a privilege, then it stands to reason we should not give it to people who cannot afford or choose not provide themselves with adequate coverage. (Obviously, people who are sufficiently rich not to need coverage would be exempt). A grocer isn't required to give you merchandise unless you can pay for it. On the free market heart surgery is no different than a pair of galoshes or a hair cut.
This is a libertarian ideal, and if we desire a purification of our country of socialist tendencies this would be a bold and daring statement of our belief in freedom.