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The better question should be why do Private Health Insurance companies exist?
by DonnyV 2y ago
The better question should be why do Private Health Insurance companies exist?
- tiahura 2y agoBecause risk? Why does car insurance exist, why does home insurance exist, why does errors and omissions insurance exist, why does umbrella insurance exist, why does business continuity exist? Why do people think someone else should pay their medical bills?
- hiddencost 2y agoWhy should people participate in a system that doesn't guarantee them basic dignity and care? We can afford to, and collectively it's cheaper. If we take care of our people they're happier, healthier and more productive.
- DonnyV 2y agoWhat psychopaths downvoted this??
- javcasas 2y agoWhy is it that, in your argument, public insurance has not ever been considered? People can pay for their medical bills with taxes. It happens all over Europe.
- Retric 2y agoEssentially everyone is facing large healthcare costs. Spreading risk is useful for things like house fires where the odds are low and the costs are high, it fundamentally doesn’t work for annual doctors visits.
- ethagnawl 2y ago> ... it fundamentally doesn’t work for annual doctors visits. I don't think this is _overtly_ what's making premiums rise. However, if more people did this, the shared odds would be lower of people needing major, catastrophically expensive interventions later. I understand why they (myself included) don't and these things are all intertwined: they can't get time off of work, don't have anyone to watch their children, are afraid of something being found and needing to see a specialist, etc. and having costs balloon. Without having read the paywalled article yet, I suspect that said interventions are only a small part of the equation, though, and the primary driver of costs are greed-flation, middlemen (e.g. billing), etc.
- Retric 2y agoThe point was illustrative, adding layers of bureaucracy isn’t free. Spreading costs for catastrophic issues is a valid use of insurance but the’ve inserted themselves into routine care thus raising costs. Getting a few stitches after a moderate injury is a fairly minor medical procedure, but get medical billing involved and the manpower for billing can dwarf the cost of medical care. PS: Several studies have shown preventive screening in aggregate doesn’t significantly reduce total healthcare costs. It tends to uncover enough additional issues to offset the savings from treating things early.
- whatwhaaaaat 2y agoThat seems a bit disingenuous. I don’t hear anyone outside of rabid leftest circles asking for anyone else to pay their bills. What people don’t want is their doctor saying they need something while a guy in a suit tells them they can’t have it. To make matters worse the patient pays for the guy in a suits e class. There are basically two groups of people involved in this. Those that have not had a loved one denied needed care by an insurance company who they pay and those that have. If you cannot identify the twisted profit motives in the American health care system that is your problem.
- neverartful 2y agoThey didn't ask 'why does insurance exist'. I imagine they fully well understand the concept of insurance. The more relevant part of the question was 'private' I suppose. As opposed to what? I imagine 'public' (single payer?). I don't know enough about the industry to have a really solid opinion on single payer vs not. However, I don't think that for-profit corporations is a good match for most (if not all) types of insurance. It puts too much incentive for them to screw over the policyholders and their dependents.
- wheelerwj 2y agoWhy do people think that other people should pay for their roads? Why do people feel like other people should pay for their police protection? Why do people feel like other people should pay for their public schools? Why answer a question and then ask one that requires the same answer?
- aiono 2y ago> Why do people think someone else should pay their medical bills? Health is something you can influence but that you don't have total control. I prefer the world where if I am the unfortunate person at least the society will help me. Having health issues is already bad enough. I am willing to pay some of my money for that purpose. It doesn't impact my quality of life when I pay for someone else's medical bills but if I end up needing that I will benefit from it a lot. So the cost it totally worth IMO.
- ausbah 2y agothe emphasis is prob why private health insurance. it’s not having other ppl posting your bills, it’s about being able to coverage low probably high cost events that is the whole point of insurance
- dsr_ 2y agoBecause US laws allow them to extract money between the payment sources and the payment sinks. Nearly pure parasitization.
- blackguardx 2y agoThis is a great question. In a class literally called “Economics 101” I took 20 years ago, we proved that the most efficient number of insurance providers is 1, implying that the government should provide this insurance.
- amazingamazing 2y agoThat makes no sense. It depends on your risk profile. Believe it or not there are many who are healthy, even going into old age. The fact this baffles many just shows how unhealthy America is.
- blackguardx 2y agoThe basic gist is that more insurance companies = more overhead so total cost of healthcare is higher. The ideal number of insurance pools is one.
- kube-system 2y agoEasy question! In October 1942, FDR signed the Stabilization Act of 1942, which made it illegal for anyone to raise wages. Employers, who were now struggling to attract workers in a time of inflation, started looking for other ways to attract them, and many decided to start offering health insurance as a benefit. This eventually became the new norm.