Policy holder: I've paid thousands over the years and you won't help me until I pay another few thousands out-of-pocket first?
Insurance company:
If you really think about it, it is a scam.
You pay them and even if the thing you have it for happens, they’ll possibly deny you. If they don’t deny you, they’ll certainly raise your premiums.
I recently had a single car accident that was my fault and it cost a few thousand dollars to fix my car. Sure enough, the insurance company raised my premiums hugely. If I keep this insurance I will pay more than three times what it cost to fix my car over the next three years when a car accident is supposed to impact your premiums. What the hell is the point.
medical bills and such have been raised to such levels that without insurance you'd be absolutely fucked. therefore, insurance has turned into an extra form of tax that goes directly to rich people instead of the government and the customers have to beg the rich people (with their terrible policies for claims and snakey "business practices") to get some help back, without guarantee.
the point is to earn profit, not help people in need
The little known open secret is that you're actually expected to change Car Insurance providers every few years (Especially after an accident!) in order to keep your costs down.
When you file a claim, always switch insurance before the claim is satisfied. This way it's not in the system for the new company to see. Old company still has to resolve the claim based on you having coverage with them on the date of the incident, and new company may very well never notice the filed claim after the fact.
Play their system against them as best you can
You are paying for the chance that they step in and pay a portion of the financial load when it exceeds your deductible. How can this amazing opportunity possibly be a scam? (/s)
that happens even if it isn't your fault
In principle requiring insurance is good. People are generally not great at allocating money to pay for freak disasters and the amount of money required to fix them is not evenly distributed. In many cases not having insurance means people going homeless or carless over expensive (but relatively minor in the grand scheme) accidents. Not to mention life insurance and paying out expenses for accidents where it's your fault but you wouldn't have enough money to pay.
It's essentially a tax run by privatized companies that ensure a safety net for everyone. The issue is that the companies are perversely incentives to make a profit and deny the very claim you signed up for insurance for.
The issue is that the companies are perversely incentives to make a profit and deny the very claim you signed up for insurance for.
You can regulate the industry to be fair.
The problem isn't the insurance, the problem is that the insurance chas bought the regulators.
There are two kinds of problems in terms of insurance, ones that can never be avoided and ones that in theory can be. It's unlikely but possible to buy and drive a car and never once get into an accident until the car is gone. It is impossible to drive a car without oil changes and tire replacement. Accidents are covered and the unavoidable is not.
The human body will require medical care. This is unavoidable. This is why it should not be left to private insurance.
I recently had a single car accident that was my fault... the insurance company raised my premiums
Lemmy moment.
I paid for travel insurance recently and the very thing that I got it for happened and they STILL found a way to be absolute scum and deny my claims
Insurance doesn't actually help you silly. It's just the fee you must pay to be allowed to register and drive your car. They just happen to call it insurance for some reason.
Insurance does a fantastic job of making sure that the CEOs of the insurance companies make at least millions of dollars. Maybe that's why they call it insurance?
The bulk of that is not part of the minimum legal requirement though. My bill is less than $20, but that only goes towards paying for any damage my car causes others, I won't get any payout. If you get insurance that pays to repair or replace your car, that's separate and not legally required.
so in other words, a subscription
Nah, it does work generally. I've had to use it when I got in a car accident. I still think it shouldn't be required tho
I'd be surprised if you're not kicked off Lemmy for this take. Heretic.
Health insurance (in America of course), got me thinking though. Shouldn't risk be public instead of private? We still need it, and most of the bureaucracy that goes along, but why are private firms making a profit off public risk?
OTOH, we have to balance this idea. Why should fat drunks pay the same for health and auto, and get the same coverage, as fit, sober people? I don't have the answer, but the question has to be addressed.
And if anyone objects to the comparison above, I'd bet a crisp $20 bill that you hold yourself above someone else because of your choices (and opportunities). Social media makes fun of meth heads, rednecks, stupid people, etc., without mercy. Same deal. If you're a perfectly logical Vulcan, company excluded.
Hell, I'll go under fire first!
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I've been addicted to opiates several times after surgeries, broken bones, whatever. Thankfully I'm able to walk it off when the prescription runs out. Some cannot.
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Started out as "bright normal" IQ, adjusted for age, I'm probably dipping below Gen Z average at 52.
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Started as a city boy, now an edge-of-town, not-quite-country boy. Whatever.
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What does medical insurance have to do with cars?
Main post just says "insurance". Doesn't say what kind
Same concept applies.
Auto insurance pays your medical bills if you get injured in a car accident, at least in my state.
Finding a reason not to pay is their job.
Every time I hear some flowery Health Insurance commercial end with something like "we're different and we care about your health". I want to scream "So you'll stop lobbying against single-payer health*care, the system proven to be cheaper and more effective by 95% of modern nations!?"
They never will until we make them! It's a scam.
Amen. And they will pay millions to run TV spots during major sporting events. Millions that could have paid claims. It's infuriating.
True, but their job is to not pay claims! Literally. Maybe someone can find the video of the practicing doctor who deals with insurance companies every day. He reminds us that insurance companies are a for-profit business. Despite the veneer their marketing creates, not one of them wants to make you healthier. There's no profit in that. They want to extract as much money from you as possible, until you are dead.
I will admit that there's greed in other places as well. Being uninsured in America is even worse in many ways. So can we please have the option that costs the country and us less, and provides better outcomes: universal healthcare.
what's single-payer health insurance?
I should have said single-payer healthcare, but:
Single-payer healthcare is a type of universal healthcare in which the costs of essential healthcare for all residents are covered by a single public system (hence "single-payer")
Within single-payer healthcare systems, a single government or government-related source pays for all covered healthcare services. Governments use this strategy to achieve several goals, including universal healthcare, decreased economic burden of health care, and improved health outcomes for the population.
And then they'll make up an excuse to not give you shit
they are freaking bad
This is why I would avoid middle man if possible. Another mouth to feed. Might as well save the insurance money instead of paying it.
For some things saving for the risk is not possible for normal people. You probably can't have enough saved in case your house burns down, you maim someone with your car, you need a medvac from abroad etc.
And even better: deductibles are legal.
And they should be! They're part of the contract you signed and agreed to. Deductibles are an important part of how the insurance business calculates their costs. Common sense stuff.
Next question, why are we Americans all but forced to sign this contract? OK, we're not forced. We can choose to drop an otherwise great job or go unemployed. Under employed is also an option!
I should add, my company's insurance was solid. $35/mo. for myself? Hell, we got extra insurance to cover what the deductible didn't. For real. Dental and vison don't add up to $2/mo.
Turns out, the insurance company sucked, we were mad. The CEO and HR just came in the monthly meeting apologizing and notifying us that we were changing providers for 2024. Sound good?
Back to, "why are we Americans all but forced to sign...?" I thought our conservative leadership was about freedom and choice? No? Why aren't we jamming their rhetoric right back up their asses?
