Keith Hennessey calls this "unfair." The gentleman has a gift for understatement:

Under Leader Reid's amendment, in the year 2019 about 16 million U.S. citizens would be uninsured and be forced to pay a penalty tax of almost $800 per year. About eight million illegal aliens would be uninsured and would owe no penalty tax. Both groups would get their health care through a combination of out-of-pocket spending and use of uncompensated care in emergency rooms and free health clinics.

This seems unfair.

The entire premise of forcing people to buy insurance is that it will cut costs for all of us because those who do not have insurance are a drain on the system when they need health services.

But if 11 million illegal aliens can game the system and still not pay the fine, what does that do to costs? The doctors and hospitals will be in an awful position since they will be unable to pass on the cost of treating illegals to Uncle Sam. And if they pass them on to insurance companies, our premiums will go up even more relative to the government option.

How generous of our Democratic friends that they have such a big heart to pay for the medical care of illegals. If they had half that sympathy for the rest of us, they would recognize the inherent unfairness in this situation and force illegals to pay up.