News Is Healthcare Hype Driven by Aging Baby Boomers and Big Pharma's Tactics?

[Kerrie]

It isn't, though. It varies according to age, gender, location, and the make of your car. Driving history alone doesn't determine the premium. If you were a 21 year-old male driving a Ferrari, you'd pay more than you're paying now, even if you had a perfect driving record. My cousin pays more for insurance each month than he does for his car payment, on a small pickup truck. The reason? He's a teenage male driving in Los Angeles that has had a car totaled before? Even though somebody else hit him, he still pays.

*smacks self in the head* duh, that's right, they do take age, gender and location as a main factor, then your habits...i can understand the statistics playing a role in your insurance coverage, but i think you should also get the best rate if your habits are optimum too, especially with health care.

I don't feel health care should become more expensive because of things a person can't help, like getting old.

i agree, but since health insurance and the whole health care industry is capitalized, this isn't always the case. there are many factors causing such high costs in the health care industry in america, lawsuits that are outrageous (does Canada allow this?), malpractice insurance (very expensive from what i hear, so i am sure those costs are passed down), drug markup, hospital costs especially, and the fact that so many are uninsured and can't be turned away for help then end up not being able to pay, thus those who can pay pick up those costs.

it all boils down to our country's priorities, and foreign affairs are much more of a priority then the health care of our citizens. also, how many lobbyists are out there for these health care companies and drug companies? in a perfect run country, health care would be provided...not necessarily obtaining a prescription for viagra, but getting basic antibiotics for ear infections for example wouldn't be hindered because you lack health insurance.

 

[vanesch]

All insurance works that way. You pay more if you're more likely to be making a lot of claims.

Hehe, the most finetuned policy is then that you pay EXACTLY what you cost to the company, + some profits for the company...
Eh, what's the use then of an insurance ?

 

[selfAdjoint]

Hehe, the most finetuned policy is then that you pay EXACTLY what you cost to the company, + some profits for the company...
Eh, what's the use then of an insurance ?

The company can't fine tune to that degree. There will always be variance, so some people's premiums will wind up paying off other people's claims, plus the company's vig. The strategy then is to be a high-side outlier.

 

[loseyourname]

Hehe, the most finetuned policy is then that you pay EXACTLY what you cost to the company, + some profits for the company...
Eh, what's the use then of an insurance ?

Even if it were the case that such an idealized insurance provider existed, it could still be of some benefit. Think of this way. If you weren't paying the premiums every month, would you be putting the money away in case of emergency? Chances are, you'd just be spending it, then when an emergency came up, you wouldn't be able to pay for it.

 

[hypatia]

My car insurance premium is based soley on my driving habits, thus another incentive to simply drive carefully.

Its also based on your credit score and where you live

 

[Kerrie]

Its also based on your credit score and where you live

some insurance companies are basing on your credit score, especially for renter's insurance, but not the company i use. but to get back to topic, i can understand that age is a true factor in how many health claims you make on your health insurance, but i think a physical done every so often that proves you lead a healthy life submitted to your insurance company (private health insurance, not group) should get you some sort of discount.

 

[SOS2008]

And getting back to pharmaceutical companies, here's this:

Selling Sickness to the Well

A new book looks at how pharmaceutical companies are using aggressive marketing campaigns to turn more people into patients.

...In their new book, “Selling Sickness: How the World’s Biggest Pharmaceutical Companies Are Turning Us All Into Patients” (Nation Books), Ray Moynihan and Alan Cassels examine how the drug industry has transformed the way we think about physical and mental health and turned more and more of us each year into customers.

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Aren’t there enough sick people that the drug companies can target? Why try and convince others they’re sick?
The marketing people and the sophisticated PR people who work for them are doing what shareholders demand of them. They’re looking for ways to maximize markets.

The marketing strategies of pharmaceutical companies play out globally. However, the U.S. is the epicenter of the selling of sickness, of disease-mongering. Americans make up less than 5 percent of the world’s population but the U.S. ...account for half of total spending on drugs.

Why is that?
The U.S. is different because it allows direct-to-consumer advertising [of prescription medications], which has taken off in a huge way in the past eight to 10 years.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8789159/site/newsweek/page/2/