Well said.
Robert W. McAdams wrote:
> Bill wrote:
>
>>
>> In three minutes(!), of course it was very shallow. It doesn't really
>> address the main causes of dental problems in the first place.
>>
>> I have been addressing these problems for over thirty years, and some
>> sensationalistic rating-grubbing news show give it THREE MINUTES??
>>
>> And they couldn't even get the main issue defined!
>>
>> The idea that "insurance" is the key to solving dental health problems
>> is complete hogwash.
>
>
> I completely agree!
>
> What some people still fail to grasp is that insurance is always a less
> than zero sum game: To stay in business, insurance companies have to
> charge more in premiums than they pay out in claims. The kind of
> situation in which this makes sense is when you are insuring an event
> whose likelihood is very low, but which will be very expensive if it
> occurs. No one knows in advance who the unlucky people are going to be,
> so the insurance company spreads the expenses of the unlucky few over
> all of the policy holders, while at the same time taking a small
> percentage of the money to cover its own operating expenses.
>
> But dental checkups, cleaning, and filling of dental caries don't
> qualify as unlikely events, so the only way an insurance company can pay
> for them is to charge premiums that cover what the customer would pay
> directly. So a patient who can't afford to pay directly isn't going to
> be able to afford insurance, either. What they are really talking about
> is having a government program that will pay for those who can't afford
> either to pay directly or to buy insurance. And such a program needs to
> encourage patients to have regular checkups and to seek treatment early,
> since this will be cheapest in the long run.
>
>
> Bob
>
Bill
Mark & Ste…
