Imagine if private automobile insurers applied the logic of government health care insurance.

A 50-year-old woman with a clean driving record, who uses her 1990 Chevrolet Cavalier to drive back and forth to church on Sundays, is charged $44 per month for automobile insurance.

In the same city, an 18-year-old male with five at-fault accidents and one DUI, driving a 2005 Ford Mustang Convertible, is also charged $44 per month for automobile insurance.

In a nearby town, a 45-year-old woman earning $18,000 a year, with a clean driving record, drives her 1997 Toyota Corolla to work each day, and is charged $44 per month for automobile insurance.

Her 19-year-old son, who earns $15,000 a year, has two at fault accidents, and drives a 1989 Oldsmobile Cutlass, is charged $0 for his automobile insurance.

Her 68-year-old father, who pulls in $60,000 a year in pensions, uses his brand new motor home to travel across Canada, is also charged $0 for his automobile insurance.

The insurance company providing coverage has calculated its cost at $231 per person per month, yet the maximum premium they charge is $44 per month.

Does it make sense for an insurance company to charge its customers premiums based on how old they are and whether they can afford to pay the premium?

Or charge a single-rate premium that on average covers a fraction of what it costs? Would it make sense for an insurance company to ignore the make and model of their customers' cars, driving history and associated risk factors?

No it wouldn't.

Yet that's how the Alberta government would figure out your automobile insurance premium if, they applied the logic of its so-called health care insurance program.

The government mandates that Albertans need to carry government health care insurance if they want to access government health services. And since the government is the only one by law who is allowed to offer this coverage, Albertans don't have any choice.

For this monopolized privilege the Alberta government charges Albertans $44 per month, unless they earn less than $15,970 per year, or are older than 65. In doing so, they claim "there is a cost to health care, and premiums clearly identify that cost."

Sounds like a noble goal, and one that is ideologically sound one. People should recognize their health care has a cost associated with it. But what does a $44 monthly premium really reveal?

It tells Albertans their health care only costs them money if they can afford it, and are not a senior.

It tells Albertans their health care only costs $44 per month, when in fact it costs $231 per month.

Furthermore, a $44 monthly premium tells Albertans regardless of how much they use the health-care system and regardless of their own health choices, their health care insurance premium will only change if their income or age changes.

If the Alberta government wants to have a real health-care insurance program, it should start acting like an insurance company and base premiums on factors other than age and income.

But, if the Alberta government wants to ensure all Albertans are treated equally under the health-care system, it should stop pretending it is an insurance company and eliminate health-care premiums altogether.

It's their choice: Either use them or lose them.