3 ms·

"Why is my health insurance covering routine maintenance?" Because the preventative care reduces the costs down the line, and there is no way for an insurer to

by roel_v 8y ago

"Why is my health insurance covering routine maintenance?" Because the preventative care reduces the costs down the line, and there is no way for an insurer to check if people are actually doing their routine maintenance if they don't do it. So it's better to include it in the premium. It's different from your roof in that your HO insurance only covers freak accidents (not failure because of old age), whereas health insurance covers many old age related problems.

chimeracoder 8y ago
> Because the preventative care reduces the costs down the line This is a common myth. Preventive care actually doesn't reduce costs, on net. It improves the overall quality of care, yes, but it doesn't (in aggregate) save more money than it requires. For some conditions, early intervention is cheaper (and more effective) than delayed intervention, but that's not always the case - and either way, it's not considered preventive care.
freehunter 8y ago
But going back to the car insurance example, making sure my brakes are working, making sure my headlights and turn signals and brake lights are working, making sure my tires are road-worthy, all of this highly decreases the chance that I will be in an accident that needs a payout from the insurance company. In many states in the US, there actually are checks done for these things to make sure the car has had its routine maintenance performed... but they're not done by the insurance company. They're done by the government.
- chimeracoder 8y ago
  > In many states in the US, there actually are checks done for these things to make sure the car has had its routine maintenance performed... but they're not done by the insurance company. They're done by the government. There are a whole lot of things that you can do to reduce your premiums for car insurance, homeowners' insurance, renters' insurance, and so forth. Those are determined by the insurance company, not by the government.
- dhimes 8y ago
  Don't forget regular maintenance to keep your warranty valid on a new purchase.
dragonwriter 8y ago
> Because the preventative care reduces the costs down the line I thought the evidence was that preventive care increases total lifetime care costs, but improves outcomes [0]. (Whereas, e.g., smoking reduces lifetime, though not per-year, healthcare costs, but made outcomes worse.) [0] Which may still save your insurer money if it kicks costs down the road until your costs are covered, or at least subsidized, by Medicare. (Or change plans because of a different job, or otherwise are someone else's problem.) And even if it doesn't save the insurer payouts, it can make the insurer more money by keeping you alive, employed, and paying premiums longer—obviously, premiums are set so that on average the insurer makes money every year you are paying them, so if you are covered longer even if they are paying more bills on total, they are still making more money.

by roel_v 8y ago

chimeracoder 8y ago

> Because the preventative care reduces the costs down the line This is a common myth. Preventive care actually doesn't reduce costs, on net. It improves the overall quality of care, yes, but it doesn't (in aggregate) save more money than it requires. For some conditions, early intervention is cheaper (and more effective) than delayed intervention, but that's not always the case - and either way, it's not considered preventive care.

freehunter 8y ago

But going back to the car insurance example, making sure my brakes are working, making sure my headlights and turn signals and brake lights are working, making sure my tires are road-worthy, all of this highly decreases the chance that I will be in an accident that needs a payout from the insurance company. In many states in the US, there actually are checks done for these things to make sure the car has had its routine maintenance performed... but they're not done by the insurance company. They're done by the government.

chimeracoder 8y ago
> In many states in the US, there actually are checks done for these things to make sure the car has had its routine maintenance performed... but they're not done by the insurance company. They're done by the government. There are a whole lot of things that you can do to reduce your premiums for car insurance, homeowners' insurance, renters' insurance, and so forth. Those are determined by the insurance company, not by the government.
dhimes 8y ago
Don't forget regular maintenance to keep your warranty valid on a new purchase.

dragonwriter 8y ago

> Because the preventative care reduces the costs down the line I thought the evidence was that preventive care increases total lifetime care costs, but improves outcomes [0]. (Whereas, e.g., smoking reduces lifetime, though not per-year, healthcare costs, but made outcomes worse.) [0] Which may still save your insurer money if it kicks costs down the road until your costs are covered, or at least subsidized, by Medicare. (Or change plans because of a different job, or otherwise are someone else's problem.) And even if it doesn't save the insurer payouts, it can make the insurer more money by keeping you alive, employed, and paying premiums longer—obviously, premiums are set so that on average the insurer makes money every year you are paying them, so if you are covered longer even if they are paying more bills on total, they are still making more money.