Anyway, thanks for the comments. I'll keep quiet now.
I've been lurking around this site for awhile, but just had to register to respond to Sticks' idea that not obtaining individual health insurance is "only" about not being able to pay for it. It is extremely difficult - if not impossible - to get individual health insurance in this country. The insurance companies do not want to insure individuals and will use any excuse, no matter how simple, to decline applicants. If you're willing and able to pay and the health insurer will not accept you, there is nothing you can do. It's time people woke up and realized just how broken this system is.
Our 25 yr old son graduated from college last March and came home to stay with us while he looked for a job. He had let his health insurance drop even and had also been through a bout of depression, had been under a Dr's care and on prescription drugs for a few months. I was mortified he had no insurance and set about trying to get him some catastrophic insurance. I fully expected that depression would be excluded but in fact he was refused insurance all together. Fortunately he got a job within 6 weeks and is fully covered but I was truly shocked that an otherwise healthy 25 yr old guy could be refused for basic, catastrophic high deductible insurance.This is exactly the point. People can claim that health care and health insurance are an individual's responsibility, but the system is broke beyond an average individual's ability to use it. Maybe it isnt government's responsibility to provide free health care, but it should be their duty to regulate the quality of and one's ability to access health care.