Car insurance companies reward good behavior: Drivers with records free of 15-car pileups and tickets for doing 90 in a 55 pay cheaper premiums. Health insurers, on the other hand, offer people little incentive to stay out of harm’s (and doctor’s) way. But a growing number of health advocates say this is a mistake, and that the system would function better if bodies were treated more like Buicks.
That wouldn't be a bad start.
There are more issues though.
Car insurance doesn't cover oil changes. Or mechanical breakdowns. Or ordinary wear and tear, and the consequences thereof.
And further, if you wreck your car you don't have to keep paying from that point forward to get it repaired or replaced -- you simply need to be insured at the time the incident happens.
None of this is true for so-called "health insurance."
If you get sick and stop paying, so will the insurance coverage stop paying even though the "get sick" part happened during the time you were covered. That's a direct violation of what "insurance" is supposed to be -- the calamtous event happened; you should not need to keep paying to get the benefit.
Health insurance covers things that are "maintenance" issues; for instance, contraception. There's no disease involved here. Nor, for that matter, is childbirth a "disease." That's an entirely-routine and expected outcome from sexual intercourse -- but it's covered.
Health changes coming from "old age" are wear and tear. But they're covered. Why? We all get old. This isn't an extraordinary event, it's an expected one.
Finally, intentional acts are typically not covered either. Arson your own house or intentionally wreck your car and you won't get paid. But if you intentionally go out and get ****faced, and wind up in the hospital, you will get paid.
There are a lot of problems here, eh?
Yeah.
Perhaps we should simply start by demanding that people call things what they really are, and lock them up for fraud when they sell something that isn't what they call it.
We can start with all the "medical insurance" companies and their executives.
