One big flaw of the free market system is the difficulty of sick people to get insurance. The insurance companies do not want sick people to insure with them. They only want healthy people. Read this article.
We have a similar problem in Singapore with motor insurance. If you have two or more accidents in a year, you will find it difficult to get an insurance company to cover you. This is a complaint written in the newspapers.
These two examples shows the flaw of the free market system that only aims at making profit. Who wants to cover the people that are likely to make a claim?
Tan Kin Lian
7 comments:
I can insure you.
Tell me what you want:
A) free hospital treatment?
B) free medication?
C) free motor car repair?
D) free diagnostics?
E) free returns of 15% per annum?
How many years would you like?
A) forever?
B) 10 years?
C) 25 years?
D) until you are 85?
How much are you willing to pay?
A) $1 per year
B) $100 per year
C) Nothing
Send your request here and I will let you know within 3 working days.
REX comments as follows,
I don't understand Mr Tan how you concluded that the lack of interest to insure people who are sick is "a flaw of the free market system that only aims at making profit".
A business that makes profit without considering welfare is undesirable, no one disputes that.
Nevertheless, a business cannot be run at a loss and have expenditure greater than income. So how can you place the blame on free market system, if the insurer does not want to take the risk of insuring sick people? Who in his right mind would be prepared to insure sick people? It is a huge loss, they pay small premium, they die more easily and you have to pay their families many times. Which businessman or even the government would want to take this kind of risk? Are you expecting that if it is not a free market system, there can be a better way?
With all due respect to you sir, I think you owe everyone an explanation for making a very challenging accusation in your post.
I also hope you can reply on the post of the India company finding hard to create jobs. I also asked you to elaborate your solution and waiting for your comment. I belieive you do have some ideas but unless it is clarified, your posts will backfire in the minds of the discerning, Sir.
REX
if the uninsurable can be insured, it wont be fair to the rest of the pool that is under standard life.
simple logic? so what it has got to go with the free market?
Everything and anyone is insurable.
The industry is just too lazy and too focused on big profit that they forget how to do the calculations.
just pure laziness, and poor margins.
I also don't understand T.K.L. here. I don't find anything wrong with insurers loading premiums on people with medical conditions or not insuring sick people outright if the risks are deemed uninsurable. This is what's thought in all insurance and risk management courses from certificate to doctorate levels. Otherwise, there's no need for medical underwriting questionnaires. Healthy people won't want to get themselves insured while healthy, thereby subsidizing the unhealthy people who wants to get themselves insured. The insurers would be loaded with a very unhealthy portfolio and probably bankrupted by the claims arising.
From a social point of view, insurers (even co-coperatives) have no responsibility to do charity till bankruptcy. It's the responsibilty of the government. The only practical way of universal coverage for universal coverage for all citizens is a basic free automatic coverage for all citizens regardless of health, funded through tax revenues.
From the population size and average premium size, I estimated it to cost half a billion per year.
There should be no bill or premium subsidy for PRs who should be required to pay for the insurance at market rate premium. PRs medically uninsurable should be deported back to their own countries, since they're so loyal to their own countries that they refuse renouncing citizenship there. PRs converting to Singapore citizenship must do it while they're medically insurable. Medically uninsurable and probably going to die or become disabled soon with huge medical bills, then convert? I don't think so.
Back to T.K.L. article about the BBC correspondent posted to the USA and finding difficulty getting medical insurance. He's almost 50 years and a obviously an highly educated and high income earning expat. It's his own problem not arranging for internationally portable health insurance. He's now whinning worse than a Singapore auntie, and even worse, he's abusing his position in BBC to air his personal whinning.
Perhaps someone could start an insurance company to insure motorist who cannot buy motor insurance elsewhere. I am sure business would be a boom.
Until then, doing business is still minimising the risk, not taking the greatest risk.
Some people have misinterpreted my comments. I have put up a new posting on this matter.
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