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I really take exception with their point on insurance. They try to insidiously suggest that the poor and urban population pays more for insurance than other pop
by mberning 8y ago
I really take exception with their point on insurance. They try to insidiously suggest that the poor and urban population pays more for insurance than other populations due to... Well they don’t say, but I do take their inference. The fact of the matter is that the auto insurance industry is highly regulated and cannot discriminate on many factors. Their rate books are reviewed by regulators. The fact that poor and urban residents pay more has to do with the risk to the vehicle. The chance of damage, theft, the type of car, the experience and record of the driver, etc. all factor in. It may be unfortunate, but it is it not some grand conspiracy or inherent bias to hold these people down. I wish other types of insurance (like health) were as easy to shop for as auto insurance. You can easily shop multiple insurers and compare prices from the comfort of your home and pick what works best for you. It’s really incredible when you think about it.
- robertAngst 8y ago>I wish other types of insurance (like health) were as easy to shop for as auto insurance. You can easily shop multiple insurers and compare prices from the comfort of your home and pick what works best for you. Libertarian here, healthcare.gov is this. Its great. well, its about as great as heavily bribed government sectors can be. https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/top.php?indexType=s https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/top.php?indexType=s
- mberning 8y agoYeah, I wish they would do more to open up competition nationwide and unsaddle health insurance from employment. How ridiculous would it be if I needed to change car insurance every time I changed jobs. Stupid.
- beatgammit 8y agoExactly. Once we remove health insurance from employment, I think everyone will be a lot happier. One of the biggest stressors in changing jobs is health insurance. If employees didn't have to worry about that, choosing a new job would be less of a problem (or quitting altogether to work on a business idea). Once the majority of people are buying their own health insurance, the market for doing so will improve, and we could see private alternatives to healthcare.gov, as well as more brokers willing to take that on. If I could change one thing about history, it would be wage and price controls during WW2 that got us into the situation of employers offering health insurance, and if I could change anything now, it would be eliminating that. I ran the math, and _most_ of our employees would've been better off buying from the market (e.g. through the subsidies they don't qualify for because our company offers insurance). I presented this to my boss, and he rejected it on the grounds that people expect the company to provide it. We need to kill that culture before we can seriously consider changing health insurance/care again.
- matt4077 8y ago> Well they don’t say, but I do take their inference. So you’re criticizing them for something they, as you admit, do not actually say. How is it their fault if the undisputed facts they state make you think of something that you consider wrong?
- mberning 8y agoI am not criticizing or disputing their point that, for example, a person living in a low income area will pay a higher rate than a similar person living in a high income area. I do dispute that it is an inequity that needs to be “fixed”, which is the main thesis of the article. While I do consider it unfortunate, it’s not discriminatory or inequitable and should not be on the list.
- matt4077 8y agoI believe they may really be trying to show that the complaint about congestion pricing being unfair is silly by giving some other, equally silly, examples.
- interestica 8y agoIn Ontario, Canada, your insurance rates are tied tied to where you live, if you have a garage, and if you put on snow tires in winter.