By natural moral law, as expressed by the universal ethic (http://www.progress.org/fold54.htm), each human being is a self-owner, with the single moral obligation to avoid harming others. The absence of insurance does not harm others. A person without insurance in effect becomes self-insured. If he requires medical services, he has a moral obligation to pay for them. There is generally also a legal obligation to pay for such services.
Thus an uninsured person who obtains emergency medical services can properly be required to pay for the services. If does not have the funds at the time, he should be required to pay the debt in the future. If he is poor and penniless, he is most likely receiving or eligible for assistance. It is therefore not only morally wrong to force people to obtain insurance, but also there is no sound financial reason to force everyone to have medical coverage.
Now let's consider whether the U.S. Constitution authorizes Congress to force Americans to have medical insurance. The question was posed to the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, and she refused to answer it. Presumably she believes that this is not a serious question because of the belief that the U.S. Constitution authorizes Congress to apply force on U.S. citizens without any restriction.
In other words, in the view of many such welfare-statists, there is no restriction on the use of force by the U.S. government on U.S. citizens and residents. Regarding the rights and liberties of Americans, they may as well tear up the Constitution and just put in a note, "anything goes."
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