A client told me that he had no losses in the last 20 years on his business insurance and yet they keep increasing his premium anywhere from 5% to upwards of 20% each year. Keep in mind, his business isn't growing, but mainting the same payroll and gross sales each year. The losses that Jack Smack cause the insurance companies cause a strain to be put on these small Ma and Pa shops that can't afford a 10-20% increase each year. Has money blinded these insurance companies to the true hard working american or is there another side to the coin. Is it honestly that insurance companies must increase the premiums in fear of their own failing business?
Corporate America: Insurance Companies
- Thread starter MrIns
- Start date
MrIns said:
What do you think the point of an insurance company is? To help people out? There are charities and non-profit organizations out there for that sort of thing, they just want to make money, and if you are implying that they shouldn’t raise their rates so high that small businesses are hurt, I don't think you understand healthy market competition (that being, anything that makes me more money is healthy). That’s why we have all the mercury in the drinking water now, because it increases efficiency to not pay attention to how much mercury your power plant is leaking, hence mercury in the drinking water is not a problem. You see how that works? Yay capitalism!
Plus, consider the massive hit the insurance companies took after the WTC attacks. 3000+ life insurance policies, property damage and loss, medical claims for survivors, and so on. What at one point may have been quite a lucrative endeavor ended up biting them on the ass when a huge number of customers took them up on their offers, and there was an industry-wide financial catastrophe. Being the glorified and legal Ponzi scheme that it is, it was bound to befall them at one point or another. Their choice? Either go Chapter 7, or raise their rates to ungodly levels and drop any client at the drop of a hat for the most miniscule of reasons. Some chose column A, other chose column B.
Healthy Market competition is one thing and I understand your Point of View, but to what extent? To what extent is it ok. From your post, it sounds like if your dad own a small shop that made ends me and it was his livelyhood, but Insurance Rates put him out of business, a business that he loved, that it would be ok because of "Healthy Market Competition" So then your dad goes to find a piss end job working for FORD or Wal-mart....Hypothetical, but there are so many out there that are in this dilemna
Read my post again, I think you missed the sarcasm. I went on to claim that mercury is good for you, because when people drink industrial mercury, it means that businesses are not wasting profit trying to make sure it does not get into the drinking water. This was clearly a flippant anti-lasiefair capitalism statement.
healthcare and unsurance, is currently in an ologopolistic situation, and thus the "rules" of free market competition do not apply. Hence, your all buggered. The NHS in the UK is being "persuaded" in that direction, but I think a lot of us wil make a stand.
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=10&ItemID=4798
"Despite a period of general economic downturn between 2000 and 2003, insurers have somehow become more profitable. How?
Since 2000, the total amount of premiums paid for health insurance has increased roughly 2 percent more per year than the total cost of all claims made by the privately insured to pay for the care they receive.
By increasing the premiums they charge faster than their costs are rising, insurers earn larger and larger profits. "
I think that should suffice for a rough outline.
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=10&ItemID=4798
"Despite a period of general economic downturn between 2000 and 2003, insurers have somehow become more profitable. How?
Since 2000, the total amount of premiums paid for health insurance has increased roughly 2 percent more per year than the total cost of all claims made by the privately insured to pay for the care they receive.
By increasing the premiums they charge faster than their costs are rising, insurers earn larger and larger profits. "
I think that should suffice for a rough outline.