Interesting…
This could make some heads explode…
From DailyKos.com
As I notedhere yesterday, the comparison between this 1798 measure and the individual mandate is imperfect. The 1798 act was a tax — mandatory for all merchant marine sailors to pay if they wanted to work — that was used to support the marine hospital system they used if they got sick or injured. But as Ezra Klein notes, this was in many ways similar to the system underlying the idea of Medicare-for-all — they paid taxes in exchange for government run insurance.
And it had the support of the Tea Party demi-God himself, Thomas Jefferson.
via Daily Kos: Jefferson supported government-run health care.
Lost in the 21st Century 