> To me, part of the difference is that the risk/chance involved (life) is not intrinsic to the transaction - it is more or less known what your returns will b

> To me, part of the difference is that the risk/chance involved (life) is not intrinsic to the transaction - it is more or less known what your returns will be, and under what conditions. It is? I'm pretty sure health care pricing is far more opaque than slot machine payout amounts (the opaqueness of payout rates varies by state). You have increased the downside of not having large hospital bills. You are taking on risk, but the idea is that the small risk reduces the variance in your outcomes. See the other reply thread where I am trying to understand why reducing variance in one situation is gambling but doing it in another is not. > if what you posit is true, is the peace of mind one gains from having insurance akin to gambling addiction? I would say akin, but obviously not the same. In both cases you have made wager that you can be usually pretty certain has a negative expected value and the motivation for this wager is to acquire a positive/pleasant state of mind.