tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21829866.post6439840632529793004..comments2023-08-20T07:06:14.115-04:00Comments on Thurber's Thoughts: Random thoughts about health careMaggiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12677808307727487766noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21829866.post-75459969370128343452009-08-18T17:04:35.057-04:002009-08-18T17:04:35.057-04:00You could make the argument that whole life insura...You could make the argument that whole life insurance is fairly similar to what's being proposed.<br /><br />Any 18 year old who gets whole life insurance is likely to be given the same rate as any other 18 year old. At the end of their life, or at some pre-defined time, a big payout is made. <br /><br />This is pretty much like health insurance...since most healthcare spending is made during the last few months of life--a big payout occurs. <br /><br />Since a life insurance company, when issuing a whole life policy to an 18 year old, can't predict what and when the 18 year old will die, risks are pooled with others. Some will die quickly, some will live long, etc. <br /><br />If you thought of a health insurance scheme as a cradle to grave system with shared risk pooling, like a whole life insurance policy issued to someone young, then not having discriminatory pricing (based on age, lifestyle, health, etc.) makes sense.<br /><br />If you thought of it in more of car insurance sorta way--where you can enter and exit the market at will, then price discrimination makes sense.<br /><br />Of course, car insurance is price discriminatory only in the short run. There is an average american driver, they may go through cycles of tickets/bad luck/age, etc, but for the most part, 80% of them, if not more, pay the same for car insurance over the course of their lives (with some variations for the car driven, state insured, etc.)Kadimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04341840022248976546noreply@blogger.com