On Wed, 18 Oct 2000, Neil Johnson wrote:
But the Bob has no control of his risk (genetics), or at least not yet :). The insurance company does.
Say What?! Sorry, no insurance company has the power to say who is and is not born with particular genetics.
I don't have a problem with insurance companies raising rates for people who smoke, are overweight (cough, cough), or have high cholesterol (cough, cough, cough). That's behavior that can be changed.
You speak as though the insurance companies business where arbitration of morals rather than arbitration of risks. They can't make money arbitrating morals -- at least not without becoming religions.
Sure they can. Moral!=religious. It is "immoral" to commit murder. Is this because God Says So, or because it's generally better for society if we can assume that the vast majority of people *won't* be trying to shoot us? It is "immoral" to steal. See above. When you look at many things that are "traditionally" immoral (by that I mean before modern socialism), they tend to have 1 thing in common. It is wrong to take what isn't yours (property, life etc.) without the blessing of the state. If we eliminate the state (Go state!, Go away!), we get "it is immoral to take what isn't yours". Consuming more than you produce is functionally the same thing. Short term illness and youth can be excused that in the long term you wind up either producing the same as you consume, or producing more. If it lasts long enough, illness can reverse that, as can things like certain addictions etc. Insurance companies--in a free market--would reward those who acted "morally"--those who took steps to minimize their non-productive times, and refuse to reward (or punish depending on your perspective) those who did things that tended to increase their non-productive times. Genetics plays only a small part in this. Most of the truly devastating genetic problems really are a drop in the bucket, and are often fairly educational in medical knowledge--which the medical establishment should pay for. The less obvious genetic problems are usually manageable if the individual knows about it, and is willing to do those things--or not do those things--as their condition demands. Case in point, I have a friend who is diabetic. Not a major issue with modern medicine. He can easily afford (given his profession) the insulin and medical checkups necessary. However he likes to drink, and drink heavily. This will bite him in the future. He knows this, and still drinks. Should the insurance companies be forced to support him? I say no. He knows what to do. He doesn't do it. As much as I like him, it's his life. -- A quote from Petro's Archives: ********************************************** Sometimes it is said that man can not be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the forms of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question. -- Thomas Jefferson, 1st Inaugural