No, it isn't exactly like auto insurance. You are required to hold liability auto insurance, to protect other people whom you may injure. You are not required to hold collision insurance to protect yourself. The Obama mandate is equivalent to requiring you to hold collision insurance, since it's to pay your medical bills.
Yes, but otherwise, the state ends up paying your medical bills, unless you happen to have assets (and many people do not).
In my mind, the big problem is that they are aiming for a single payer, and the government is requiring things in the coverage that should not be there...as Rush or perhaps Neal Boortz said once, it would be like having your auto insurance pay for your oil changes. Imagine the price!
But in this case, the government is using insurance to impose government policies (population control, for example).