No, it is not that at all. Your health isn't like driving a car and purchasing insurance to protect against accidents. You can decide about driving the car. You can't decide about your health. You can't decide about your heart or breast or pancreatic cancer or getting rehabilitated for a stroke. The sweet simple lottery that capitalist insurance industry predators want you and your business to pay for has been exposed and solved and avoided by all advanced western nations except the US. Go ahead and step into the deadly US health lottery arena and report back.
X-files, you make a very good point about health insurance. To counter your point let me make this one;
Lets say you have found that betting a unranked college basketball favorite at home over a ranked team is +EV. You don't bet your entire bankroll + get credit to get even more on just one game.
Same thing with health insurance. Just because not having health insurance is probably +EV when considered against the millions that have it, you don't go bet your whole bankroll on this +EV event. In your case maybe it is better to make a value bet on it(high deductible)
-This made sense to me, not sure if when I wrote it out if it made complete sense.
Lets say you have found that betting a unranked college basketball favorite at home over a ranked team is +EV. You don't bet your entire bankroll + get credit to get even more on just one game.
Same thing with health insurance. Just because not having health insurance is probably +EV when considered against the millions that have it, you don't go bet your whole bankroll on this +EV event. In your case maybe it is better to make a value bet on it(high deductible)
-This made sense to me, not sure if when I wrote it out if it made complete sense.
TTP, I had forgotten that you were associated with the insurance biz.
Do you sell policies like the one you mentioned (high deductible)?
If so, pull my email back out and send me a response.
I'm in the market on accounta my wife's new job has her jammed pretty good for "family" rates (it's just the two of us) as compared to single rates for her alone.
If you send me an e on this subject...put TIMETOPAY in the subject line so I don't skim past it as some kind of sales spam.
Right on X. Insurance is a waste of money for most people. But then again, most people live by the mantra-better safe than sorry. What they fail to mention is the cost of safety.
Assuming one is not into extreme this or extreme that (sports, drugs,poor genetics), insurance is a total scam for most persons under 35.
35-50, insurance is probably about break even.
50- the end, insurance is probably a good value.
Assuming one is not into extreme this or extreme that (sports, drugs,poor genetics), insurance is a total scam for most persons under 35.
35-50, insurance is probably about break even.
50- the end, insurance is probably a good value.
Interesting point. Without health insurance one may be risking their
entire bankroll. Since, as it has been pointed out, if a serious problem
occurs, it could end in financial ruin or bankrupty. So while not buying
any coverage may be +EV, this may be putting all your eggs in one
basket, kind of like going all in on a -10,000 fav that is worth -15,000.
Or maybe i will live a long healthy life like many of my ancestors,
and float away quietly in my sleep while having a wet dream.
BTW, if one waits for a heart attack to get insurance, do you think
by then it might be too late to get med coverage for that? In life
it can help to be like the chess grandmaster, seeing 9 moves ahead.
There are two institutions in this country that can ruin you financially - the legal profession and the health care profession. Actually three if you count George Bush. When it comes to health insurance, just grin and bear it. You know from the outset that you are getting ripped off, however, not having it is downright frightening. Suppose you decide to self insure or use a high deductible and you develope cancer. Unless you are independently wealthy, the costs for treatment could lead to Chapter 7. I think the key consideration is that if you are insured and something bad happens to you soon after takng out the policy you probably will not be hurt too badly financially. Conversely, if you are self insuring and putting the money aside for future health problems, you are betting on time and just lost big time.
we just got the high deductible plan at work and it isn't all that "high". It is I think $3600 for a family and only $1800 for an individual, supposedly all "covered risks" above that are fully insured once you burn through the deductible. That doesn't cover the actual cost of the insurance. Apparently at some later date unused funds in the savings account can be transferred to an IRA or 401(k), I forget which.
Once you have a child you will be +EV for sure.
Random shit happens all the time, my wife broke her foot playing soccer, her brother was rear ended in his car and still has a bad back, my mother had a brain tumor, my sister fell down stairs and broke her ankle, my daughter cracked her head on my mother's table and needed stitches.
It isn't about + or - EV, not everything in life is + or -EV, some things are necessary evils.
What is worthless, however, is dental insurance. You absolutely do not need dental insurance.
Once you have a child you will be +EV for sure.
Random shit happens all the time, my wife broke her foot playing soccer, her brother was rear ended in his car and still has a bad back, my mother had a brain tumor, my sister fell down stairs and broke her ankle, my daughter cracked her head on my mother's table and needed stitches.
It isn't about + or - EV, not everything in life is + or -EV, some things are necessary evils.
What is worthless, however, is dental insurance. You absolutely do not need dental insurance.
