[readams]

The point the parent is making is that if you know in advance that you, will need to use the insurance, and you decide to buy it on this basis, then the premium the insurance company charges will need to increase to account for this, or the insurance company will lose money.

Since the premium has increased, the only people who will still pay the higher premium are those that know they will need to make a claim. The premium will therefore rise to the point where _only_ the ones with that extra information will pay.

Insurance markets cannot survive with this kind of information asymmetry.

This is not a North American definition. This is what insurance is.

[bonzini]

That's absolutely correct. It also exemplifies why the healthcare market cannot regulate itself.