> Why should it be cheaper to have group policies through employers? The entire freaking point of the insurance company is that they are pooling money from a bu

> Why should it be cheaper to have group policies through employers? The entire freaking point of the insurance company is that they are pooling money from a bunch of people over time in the form of premiums to be able to distribute to a minority who need it in emergencies. Good question. The answer is that the insurance companies know that people are self-selecting if they buy insurance on their own, while (to a good approximation) they do not select jobs on the basis of the insurance that they will get from it. So insurance offered through an employer comes from a pool of typical people with a certain age and wealth distribution, while insurance sold directly to consumers comes from a pool of people who think that they need that particular kind of insurance. Needless to say, the risk is MUCH higher with the individual policies, and it is priced accordingly.