Originally posted by: Marlin1975
I love threads like this as it brings out the hypocrites. Everybody hates all the free loaders that take more from the government or ?program? then they pay but they have no problem paying others bills in health care just so they can say ?just in case?? insert something that happens rarely and usually to people that bring it onto themselves.
Insurance is probable the most liberal socialist thing out there. Yet here are so many posters that are ?conservative? saying you need this very liberal/socialist program or you will die. Of course I guess the insurance companies are doing a good job filling people?s heads with YOU HAVE TO HAVE IT!!! And they don?t mind taking your money and then denying claims and roiling in the billions of dollars of profits every year. There?s a reason why Warren Buffet got into insurance at an early start of his career. He knows how much money is made off of it, and so easily.
I don?t have dental or vision. It is actually cheaper to pay the cash price to have my teeth cleaned then pay for dental insurance. Same thing with vision and my wife wears glasses and contacts. Only reason I got health insurance the last year was it was cheaper to have insurance on me and my wife then to just cover her alone.
Now if you are fat, have genetic issues, overweight, drinks, smoke, don?t exercise, etc? then yea insurance is a great thing for you. But for the rest it will be a money pit. There?s a reason why so many companies are now charging more for those that smoke or just firing them. I would not look down on insurance as much if it was fairer. Charge more to those that put themselves at higher risk and give discounts to people like myself that don?t drink, smoke, workout, etc? Heck IBM gave I think $500 a year to those that work out a certain amount. It?s a start but they need to go deeper IMO.
Is this a troll? Insurance (in ideal theory, not always in practice) is pure liberal capitalism, not even remotely socialist. You get a choice. That's the difference. Socialism is when government controls it and forces you to have it at gunpoint. Insurance provides competition and choice. And if not getting is a bad idea, that's not force, you are still allowed the right to make a bad decision.
People buy insurance because it's a good investment (of a kind known as hedging). Insurance reduces and helps control risk.
Consider car insurance. Most people pay about $100 per month or so (this may vary due to your age, car, record, etc). One good sized accident could easily hit $100k in payouts. That's 83 years of premiums. How is that not a good deal?
Homeowners insurance runs me about $600/year. If my house burns down, it's like 600 years of premiums to rebuild it. Best deal ever IMO.
Healthcare from my employer costs me about $100 per month tax-free. What's a heart attack cost? How much is cancer? Hell, how much is a single trip to the emergency room?
Warren got into insurance because he understands finance. In order to actually make money while paying out all those claims that typically come out to more than the premiums, insurance companies have to take their pools of capital and invest them in some fashion that guarantees sufficient return (much like what a bank has to do in order to make money, but banks make loans). Warren is a master guru of investment, therefore controlling insurance pools was right up his alley.