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Politics : A US National Health Care System? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TimF who wrote (23937)	7/1/2012 10:55:46 AM
From: TimF	Respond to of 42652

Insurance underwriting Insurance underwriters evaluate the risk and exposures of potential clients. They decide how much coverage the client should receive, how much they should pay for it, or whether even to accept the risk and insure them. Underwriting involves measuring risk exposure and determining the premium that needs to be charged to insure that risk. The function of the underwriter is to protect the company's book of business from risks that they feel will make a loss and issue insurance policies at a premium that is commensurate with the exposure presented by a risk. Each insurance company has its own set of underwriting guidelines to help the underwriter determine whether or not the company should accept the risk. The information used to evaluate the risk of an applicant for insurance will depend on the type of coverage involved. For example, in underwriting automobile coverage, an individual's driving record is critical. As part of the underwriting process for life or health insurance, medical underwriting may be used to examine the applicant's health status (other factors may be considered as well, such as age & occupation). The factors that insurers use to classify risks should be objective, clearly related to the likely cost of providing coverage, practical to administer, consistent with applicable law, and designed to protect the long-term viability of the insurance program.[1] The underwriters may either decline the risk or may provide a quotation in which the premiums have been loaded or in which various exclusions have been stipulated, which restrict the circumstances under which a claim would be paid. Depending on the type of insurance product (line of business), insurance companies use automated underwriting systems to encode these rules, and reduce the amount of manual work in processing quotations and policy issuance. This is especially the case for certain simpler life or personal lines (auto, homeowners) insurance. en.wikipedia.org Officials in the State of Washington Fail to Comprehend nfb.org

To: TimF who wrote (23937)	7/1/2012 10:59:52 AM
From: TimF	4 Recommendations Respond to of 42652

In Praise of Discrimination in the Health Insurance Market No-discrimination insurance isn't insurance. It's welfare. John Stossel \| June 28, 2012 reason.com

To: TimF who wrote (23937)	7/1/2012 1:03:16 PM
From: Road Walker	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42652

Insurance as a business is about measuring risk categories and basing evaluations about coverage and rates on that. Its not just about forking over money. Its not government <g>. Insurance is gambling, why it one of the most regulated industries everywhere. But it is whatever we make it. It's a human construct; we can make it whatever we want. No God Given rules on how insurance should work. IMPORTANT: Think of it this way Tim. Assuming we cover everyone, a bit of a stretch but not far off, then the exemption for pre-existing conditions will be a one time event. After that, if everyone is covered, there will be NO SUCH THING as a pre-existing condition. How cool is that? For real people? At the same time a whole bunch of healthier people are entering the paying system. Bottom line should be cheaper, 'cause your spreading risk. Which as I said is the "essence" of insurance, the only reason it exists.