I had an experience recently that highlights the issue with not requiring everyone to have health insurance. I had routine blood work done at the hospital. In the past six months I had the same blood work done at the doctor's office. The hospital charged me $426.40 while the doctor's office charged me $57.34 for the exact same blood tests.

I have insurance except I have a high deductible policy ($5000) which costs me $6000 per year. So as I am responsible for these charges, I contacted the hospital administration and asked them to justify these exorbitant charges. This is, in part, the response: "Hospitals provide a guaranteed access point for emergency needs, where care is provided to patients regardless their ability to pay. This is a factor considered in setting hospital charges for all hospitals."

One thing that I found very interesting is if I had not had a high deductible policy - based on the explanation of benefits, my insurance company would have been required to pay the $426.40 charge. I also wonder what Medicare would have paid for this service. When I had company paid, no deductible insurance, I won't have given this exorbitant charge a second thought. And I wonder how many Medicare recipients actually look at what is being charged not simply at what they are required to pay.

Everyone needs health insurance so that hospitals can no longer use this as an excuse to inflate charges that everyone, particularly those with health insurance and those taxpayers who are paying for Medicare. I also think that those with health insurance (public or private) need to be smarter consumers and not just simply think, a third party is paying for this so I don't have to care what the costs are.