[Vision2020] [corrected] Otter wants health insurance market state-run

[Kenneth Marcy]

On 12/12/2012 10:36 AM, Robert Dickow wrote:
>
> Really? I thought I read somewhere that Idaho drivers were among the 
> worst in the nation, in such areas as tail-gating (maybe that a 
> joke?), drunk driving,  traffic fatality  rates, and some other areas. 
> . But let me do a little more homework on the actual figures here.
>

Here's a start on the statistics:

http://www.insure.com/car-insurance/car-insurance-rates.html
>
> Maybe I'm misinterpreting the 'characteristics of Idaho citizen 
> drivers' part. Maybe Idahoans have lower insurance more because they 
> generally can only afford cheap old second-hand clunkers, which don't 
> require as much collision coverage. The vehicles also tend to be 
> broken down and off-the-road at higher frequencies (you'll see them 
> sitting on peoples' lawns and in barnyards in the countryside), 
> rendering them statistically harmless. ;-) My beloved 1985 Volvo sedan 
> is in this category.
>

Insurance rates tend to be a function of the claims experience of an 
insurer and the rates of insurer investment earnings that are allocated 
to a particular type of policy in addition to characteristics of the 
insured (gender, age, vehicle type, etc.).

Since I am not an expert on insurance rates, I can not write for certain 
that other factors are not seriously considered, whether or not in the 
ratepayers favor. For example, overall the netizens of the Emerald City 
probably pay more than denizens of the Kingdom of Ada and the citizens 
of the Land of Latah for similar levels of coverage simply because 
claims costs are higher for similar damage in the Emerald City.

Other costs should be, but often are not, taken into account. For 
example, a jurisdiction that spends more on locking up drunk drivers 
will cost citizens more for driving-related activities, regardless what 
their insurance premiums happen to be. So, it is not slam-dunk simple to 
say just where the lower "insurance rates" happen to be located.


Ken



> Bob Dickow, troublemaker
>
> Kenneth Marcy wrote:
>
> On 12/12/2012 8:50 AM, Tom Hansen wrote:
>
>     Tell us about it, Mr. Marcy, when you are diagnosed with cancer at
>     75 years old and browsing the health insurance "marketplace" for
>     an insurer whose premiums you can
>
> <snip>...at least some individuals are sufficiently interested in the 
> benefits of procuring higher levels of policy protection, if not 
> perfection, than might otherwise be available from national, less 
> flexible, insurance regulations.  Idaho has some of the lowest 
> automobile insurance rates in the nation as a result of 
> characteristics of Idaho citizen drivers.  It well may be that 
> analogous lower health care insurance rates might be available were 
> Idahoans able ...</snip>
>
>
> Ken
>
>
>
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