Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by Legend2440 59 days ago
One of these things is not like the others.

Insurance is a tool for spreading risk, and modern society could not operate without it.

2 comments

Yes, but the incentives created by that system lead to insurance adjudicators operating with extreme adversariality towards the insured. Add to that the extreme inelasticity of demand for insured products (e.g. healthcare, or getting access to a car to use to commute after one is totaled), regulatory capture of insured products/services by insurers, and time, and you get pretty toxic systems wherein insurers exert upwards price pressure without significant checks.
I think to read the comment in best possible interpretation- they meant private health insurance in the USA.