Unless the UK has dramatically changed its NHS rules in the last few years, I think you were misinformed. We used NHS in London in the late 1990s – were were visitors, there for only a few days when Mrs Haven fell and broke her ankle. We didn’t have to pay tuppence for the medical treatment, and we weren’t even UK taxpayers.
Auto insurance is to prevent you from costing another. You can be sued otherwise. And prohibbitted from driving. Without health insurance, many people (without resources) might be using the emergency room. An emergency room heart attack visit could run in the tens of thousands. Sure…the hospital can sue later…good luck. Plus I doubt the hospital can prohibbit emergency room visits from someone who owes them money. And you can prohibbit someone from getting sick.
Sorry, you can’t prohibit someone from getting sick. Or prohibit them from living…as you can do a public automobile driver.
And more importantly, it isn’t the federal government requiring it. It is the state.
Huh, apparently I was misinformed. Emergency room care is not charged for. (cite), but most everything else would be if you’re an overseas visitor. So I imagine the initial ER visit to take care of the busted ankle was free, but if you were there for longer and she continued to have pain, you would have had to pay had you seen a doctor.