I remember reading the story of the beginning of the Organization we know as "the Knights of Columbus". There were a lot of coal mining communities and death came early and often unexpectedly. The women and children of miners who died in accidents or "black lung", were doomed to beggary or even starvation. A priest came up with an idea. If they all contributed a small amount into an insurance fund, their families would have the means to stay alive if father died. Novel idea that served a good purpose. It did not remain that way.
Smart business types began to capitalize on the idea. Building on people's fears of the unknown future, insurance companies sprung up all over the place, selling insurance for just about everything. I remember the public interest, in the sixties when the French movie star Brigit Bardot insured her breasts for a big amount of money. Soon the Insurance companies gained enough capital and power that unbaled them to influence governments. They were able to curtail people's personal freedoms in order to reduce potential claims. The tail was wagging the dog.
Now, other smart business types developed new ways to exploit the new insurance industry from the other end. Rationalizing that people will not mind if the crowd funded insurance companies pay high prices, they began to sell insurable items at far above normal retail prices. This included medical products, such as eye glasses and dental items, as well as life saving medications. After all, why not increase the prices and force people to purchase insurance. Good for everybody, aside from the consumer, who pays the monthly payments and dare not stop.
I lived at a time when there was no insurance. You took your chances and dealt with the setbacks as they occurred. I welcomed health care, retirement and other critical government programs, trusting that my government will keep the system honest and fair. They didn't do it. Bouncing over to private insurance didn't help either. Insurance Corporations became rich and we were left often with having to hire lawyers to process our claims. Not everyone can do that. Now it's a mess.
Insurance is expensive and doing without it is impossible since the prices of insurable items are so high. Many people resort to paying the insurance grudgingly and trying to cheat it for all its worth. It is time to re-evaluate the whole system. Critical aspects of life should be insured by a good government that keeps control over expenses and pay the political price if they don't. The rest could be regulated, again, by a government that takes the job of governing seriously. We must remember the reason for democracy. A government for the people, by the people.
