5 ms·

I really don't understand the obsession with insurance, especially medical insurance. Does NOBODY understand that the casino/insurance company DOES NOT LOSE. i.

by rayhano 14y ago

I really don't understand the obsession with insurance, especially medical insurance. Does NOBODY understand that the casino/insurance company DOES NOT LOSE. i.e. YOU pay them more money than they will EVER pay for your treatment... The mind boggles at how brainwashed people are about insurance. In the UK motor insurance and buildings insurance is mandated by law or mortgage agreements. So those are unavoidable. By life insurance, medical insurance, etc are scams. Self-insure.

2arrs2ells 14y ago
You don't pay for insurance to "make money" - you pay for insurance to minimize risk. i.e. I'm happy to pay for health insurance to make sure that a sudden illness doesn't bankrupt me.
Spooky23 14y ago
I had a back injury that required surgery. Total cost: $150k. My wife recently had a child. Minor complications ensued at delivery. Total cost: $40k. My cost for insurance? $3,120 a year, plus about $400/year in copays. The gamble has worked out for me.
- rayhano 14y ago
  Incredible! Obviously my comment has no credibility in the US. It's incomprehensible in Europe to incur such costs. Have you guys thought that you have such high costs because the massive US insurance industry is taking a cut?
  - Spooky23 14y ago
    Yeah, it's insane here. Note that my employer pay 75% of my insurance premium as well. I don't think the insurance industry per se is the cause. There are many issues that books have been written on. Fundamentally though, because we lack any basic "safety net", yet require hospitals to provide emergency care without regard to payment hospitals are forced to recover massive losses by raising rates for everyone. That's why a cesarean childbirth can cost $40k -- if a woman in labor who didn't get prenatal care shows up, they need to care for her and don't get paid. So we end up in this false debate where opponents to "socializing" insurance/medicine don't understand what is wrong, because they have middle-class jobs with paid insurance as a benefit. It doesn't compute for some reason that they are already paying for it!
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
flyinRyan 14y ago
This is absolutely moronic advice. You need insurance against situations that have no top end cost. Health care cost potential is near unlimited. As a result, other insurable events, like car accidents, are also potentially unlimited because you could be paying someone's hospital bills. In this instance, people aren't brainwashed. Some people are just stupid...
untog 14y ago
It's pretty obvious that you are talking from a UK perspective here. The situation is radically different in the US, where the OP is based.
dredmorbius 14y ago
The other element you're missing is that medical services aren't transacted at a single standard price list for all patients. Instead, a huge range of pricing systems are used depending on the context. Some are mandated by government regulation (Medicare reimbursement rates), many are governed by negotiations between providers (hospitals, HMOs, doctors' groups, pharmaceutical providers, medical device/service providers), and an insurer, payment provider, or other group. Guess who gets the short end of the stick in those negotiations? It's the individual health care care consumer. Who has no bargaining leverage and is often incurring services at a time when there's no other option (accident, injury, illness).
aaronblohowiak 14y ago
minimax - the art of minimizing your maximal possible loss. also, insurance companies pay less for the same services that you would pay for at the same place of care because they bulk-negotiate with providers.

by rayhano 14y ago

2arrs2ells 14y ago

You don't pay for insurance to "make money" - you pay for insurance to minimize risk. i.e. I'm happy to pay for health insurance to make sure that a sudden illness doesn't bankrupt me.

Spooky23 14y ago

I had a back injury that required surgery. Total cost: $150k. My wife recently had a child. Minor complications ensued at delivery. Total cost: $40k. My cost for insurance? $3,120 a year, plus about $400/year in copays. The gamble has worked out for me.

rayhano 14y ago
Incredible! Obviously my comment has no credibility in the US. It's incomprehensible in Europe to incur such costs. Have you guys thought that you have such high costs because the massive US insurance industry is taking a cut?
- Spooky23 14y ago
  Yeah, it's insane here. Note that my employer pay 75% of my insurance premium as well. I don't think the insurance industry per se is the cause. There are many issues that books have been written on. Fundamentally though, because we lack any basic "safety net", yet require hospitals to provide emergency care without regard to payment hospitals are forced to recover massive losses by raising rates for everyone. That's why a cesarean childbirth can cost $40k -- if a woman in labor who didn't get prenatal care shows up, they need to care for her and don't get paid. So we end up in this false debate where opponents to "socializing" insurance/medicine don't understand what is wrong, because they have middle-class jobs with paid insurance as a benefit. It doesn't compute for some reason that they are already paying for it!

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

flyinRyan 14y ago

This is absolutely moronic advice. You need insurance against situations that have no top end cost. Health care cost potential is near unlimited. As a result, other insurable events, like car accidents, are also potentially unlimited because you could be paying someone's hospital bills. In this instance, people aren't brainwashed. Some people are just stupid...

untog 14y ago

It's pretty obvious that you are talking from a UK perspective here. The situation is radically different in the US, where the OP is based.

dredmorbius 14y ago

The other element you're missing is that medical services aren't transacted at a single standard price list for all patients. Instead, a huge range of pricing systems are used depending on the context. Some are mandated by government regulation (Medicare reimbursement rates), many are governed by negotiations between providers (hospitals, HMOs, doctors' groups, pharmaceutical providers, medical device/service providers), and an insurer, payment provider, or other group. Guess who gets the short end of the stick in those negotiations? It's the individual health care care consumer. Who has no bargaining leverage and is often incurring services at a time when there's no other option (accident, injury, illness).

aaronblohowiak 14y ago

minimax - the art of minimizing your maximal possible loss. also, insurance companies pay less for the same services that you would pay for at the same place of care because they bulk-negotiate with providers.