The fallacy here is that the 25 year-old who does end up with something will actually pay the bill. They won’t. They haven’t the assets to pay a really big bill (like from an motor vehicle accident which is the most likely thing to land them in the hospital). So, ultimately, those who can pay (you and me) get stuck with the it.
That’s a tax, too. I’d rather have the tax paid upfront by the person who at least benefits from it somewhat, even if it’s out of proportion to what they might gain, than have it passed through a few more layers of hospital/insurance company middlemen which just adds to the cost of everything in the end.
The other point to make is that that a 25 year-old WILL eventually be older or acquire an unforeseen condition and use more resources. Risk is not static. It can change in the blink of a red light or a kink in the of strand of DNA, if not with the passage of time.
And unlike Social Security, it’s a pay-as-you-go plan. No one is pretending that mandatory universal health insurance is saving up money for the future, as they do with Social Security. At least they’re honest about that part.
