Insurance Companies - a proposal for more transparency

[andrewducker]

I'd love it if insurance companies had to make it clear how much of the money they took in as premiums was paid out again to policyholders.

Because I don't object to pooling risk, but I do object to large rake-offs.

(The Affordable Care Act said that health insurance companies have to spend 80% of their income on medical care. I don't want to go so far as to regulate it. But if you make it public then people can at least take it into account when making their decisions.)

Via discussion here.

Comments

[adrian_turtle]

Do you consider it a valid use of money when an insurance company does general stuff to try to reduce claims? Like when a fire insurance company tries to prevent buildings from burning in the first place, by lobbying cities to enforce building codes better. Or when a car insurance company tries to prevent cars from crashing in the first place, with a campaign against drunk driving. I've seen these, but I don't know if they use a significant fraction of the company's money.

[andrewducker]

Yup, there's definitely an argument for including that.