3 ms·

Insurance isn't about helping people cover expenses, it's about collecting as much premium as possible while paying out as little as possible.

lando2319 10y ago
nowadays commercials of Insurance companies actually tout that they pay the settlements. It would be like me, a Developer, touting that I actually finish apps, I don't just take the money.
Ntrails 10y ago
Taken to it's logical conclusion you can argue that every business is going to try and cut every possible cost and service to maximise profit. Insurance is not about helping people cover expenses though, it is about pooling risk for the benefit of the group. This does mean that if you are a stunt helicopter pilot then other people in a low risk pool may tell you that they don't want you in it anymore. America has a whole bunch of weirdness around insurance law etc. so I can't really speak much as I'm foreign - but there are good reasons that insurers don't cover Skiing on default travel insurance for example - and it isn't to screw the consumer.
- grecy 10y ago
  > it is about pooling risk for the benefit of the group. AND making obscene profit for the insurance company. I wish we had more things like this that were non-profit. An insurance non-profit could charge the same premiums as a company does today, then whatever "profit" they have left at the end of the year after expenses they just refund back to all customers as a percentage of their premiums. Everyone would pay way less, all the employees still get paid the same, and we'd still have the benefit of pooling the risk.
  - Ntrails 10y ago
    I'd love to see more on the obscene profit side of this. Honestly - I've done some work on pricing, reserving, etc in insurance and spoken to practicing GI actuaries - the margins are just not that large. Are you specifically pointing to US medical insurers (I cannot comment at all on that tbh beyond the fact that the whole system is problematic)?

lando2319 10y ago

nowadays commercials of Insurance companies actually tout that they pay the settlements. It would be like me, a Developer, touting that I actually finish apps, I don't just take the money.

Ntrails 10y ago

Taken to it's logical conclusion you can argue that every business is going to try and cut every possible cost and service to maximise profit. Insurance is not about helping people cover expenses though, it is about pooling risk for the benefit of the group. This does mean that if you are a stunt helicopter pilot then other people in a low risk pool may tell you that they don't want you in it anymore. America has a whole bunch of weirdness around insurance law etc. so I can't really speak much as I'm foreign - but there are good reasons that insurers don't cover Skiing on default travel insurance for example - and it isn't to screw the consumer.

grecy 10y ago
> it is about pooling risk for the benefit of the group. AND making obscene profit for the insurance company. I wish we had more things like this that were non-profit. An insurance non-profit could charge the same premiums as a company does today, then whatever "profit" they have left at the end of the year after expenses they just refund back to all customers as a percentage of their premiums. Everyone would pay way less, all the employees still get paid the same, and we'd still have the benefit of pooling the risk.
- Ntrails 10y ago
  I'd love to see more on the obscene profit side of this. Honestly - I've done some work on pricing, reserving, etc in insurance and spoken to practicing GI actuaries - the margins are just not that large. Are you specifically pointing to US medical insurers (I cannot comment at all on that tbh beyond the fact that the whole system is problematic)?