[geeks] Insurance, and Why I Hate It (long)

[Tom Borton]

I like the idea of your system, but there are two related conditions
that keep me relatively content to pay some forms of insurance:
1.	Insurance for things over which I have no control.  I can be
sure that I maintain my cars and drive safely, but I can't force
everyone to.  And everyone - list members excepted, of course - has
their stupid moments.
2.	Insurance to make sure that I can't be bankrupted because other
people fail to be responsible for their actions.

Going without insurance is a gamble that everyone else will deal
responsibly with you and can afford the responsible remedy for something
they have done unto you.

That's the theory - the mercenary tactics employed by some companies to
maximize their profits, as noted by others earlier, are the real reason
people don't like insurance.  It's the companies, not so much the
concept, that (justifiably) cause wide-spread hatred.

Tom

-----Original Message-----
From: geeks-admin at sunhelp.org [mailto:geeks-admin at sunhelp.org]On Behalf
Of Michael A. Turner
Sent: 19 March 2002 13:35
To: geeks at sunhelp.org
Subject: RE: [geeks] Insurance, and Why I Hate It (long)


	I have never understood the logic behind insurance myself.
Follow
this train if you will. I am paying a compnay, basically laying a bet,
that
I will most likely get into an accident, or injure myself,  before the
amount I have payed is larger than the amount I will recieve in benefits
from said accident or health problem. 
	I fully believe that people do the things that they work
towards. If
you tell yourself all the time you are no good at math eventually you
will
be no good at math. It seems like everytime I pay that insurance premium
it's like a reminder to go out and hurt myself. This would seem to
suggest
that Insurance causes accidents.
	I believe we need to find a system that goes the other way, that
I
am betting that I will stay safe and healthy. I have, unfortunatly, not
been
able to find a model for this that works. The big issue I found in this
revised model is the fact it would now be in the best interest of the
insurance comapny to hurt you... As untrustworthy as those bastards are
I
definatly do not want them to have a reason to wack me in the head with
a
bat....

Michael A. Turner
Systems Engineer
WHRO
michael.turner at whro.org
http://www.whro.org