Reality is Unfair! Womens Health Costs--em Talking Points

Western Hero ^ | 1 March 2010 | silverfiddle

[foutsc]

There is outrage, Outrage!, that health insurance costs more for a young woman than a young man.

Gender-rating — or what some term as flat-out sexual discrimination — is linked to the simple fact that women, particularly those under age 50 or so, go to the doctor more often than men. (Denver Post)

Insurance is more for women because they go to the doctor more often, and it costs more to provide them health services.  Insurance companies are in business to make money, and their profit margin is much smaller, say, than the "medical marijuana" dispensaries going up all over the state. 

There!  That was easy.  But wait...

But outrage over how women are treated in the individual health insurance market is mounting as stories emerge of companies refusing to cover maternity benefits and denying coverage because of past domestic violence or cesarean sections... (Denver Post)

Smells like some well-timed propaganda to me.  This has always been an issue.  It's no coincidence these "stories are emerging" at this point in time.

Life insurance for men is more expensive because a man is statistically more likely to die than a woman, and women live longer.  Is that fair?

Auto insurance is almost twice as expensive for young men compared to rates for new women drivers. Why?  Because young boys are testosterone fueled hot rods and cause more accidents than girls, so they get charged more as a group.  I don't recall concerned citizens protesting these injustices...

Women Pay Less Later On...

Bonnie Erbe at CBS News points out...

...as people get older, the gender rating process reverses, with men paying more for their insurance than women.

As long as there are price differences in health insurance (it's always more expensive for older Americans, for example), then charging younger women and older men higher rates does not on its face strike me as bias.

Fairness is not the Issue

This is what happens with all collectivist projects.  We all throw money in a pool (or have is confiscated from us by a coercive government) and soon the fighting starts over who did or didn't get their fair share.  Trying to bring rationality and actuarial tables into the argument just confuses id-driven collectivists.  

Hearing the term "fair distribution" should clue you in that the logic of the free market is no longer in play. 

This is why Big Pharma and Big Insurance is in bed with Obama.  When the free market goes out the window, those in power make the rules, so you better start sucking up if you want to stay in business.  It's called Crony Capitalism. 

[VRWCmember]

Hmm, does that mean that women want to pay more for car insurance now? Because men pay much higher premiums for liability and collision insurance than women. So if this unfair discrimination is ended, then women’s car insurance premiums will go up — because you know darn well they won’t lower men’s insurance premiums down to the level that women pay.

[xzins]

It's called Crony Capitalism.

Vehemently disagree.

It's called "Crony Socialism." Another name for it is National Socialism.

[Wuli]

My anecdotal life experience seems to reflect more frequent use of “health care” support, for my female friends and relatives, in the 15 to fifty age group, than myself and my male friends, with females seeming to be in need of those services for matters related to the urogenital tract and reproductive cycle with much greater occurrence than the guys; and needless to say, although it takes a man and woman to make a baby, nearly all the post-conception health care is needed by the woman.

So, is the argument they are making one where they think a single healthy 22 year old male is “unfairly” charged less for a single-person health insurance policy, than a single healthy 22-year-old female? They’re wrong. She will, due to her own gender-related issues, on average, require more “health care services” than her male friend.

They were wrong too when they said, in the 1980s, that a man and a woman who are both age sixty-five on the same date and who have exactly the same balance on that date in their pension account MUST be given the exact same monthly pension, even though it is a known fact that, on average, the woman is most likely (actuarial and financial risk calculations) to live years longer than the man (and for whom the pension system must make those payments for a longer period).

[BenKenobi]

“Auto insurance is almost twice as expensive for young men compared to rates for new women drivers.”

Yeah, funny I don’t see the ladies complaining. ;)