You are why universal healthcare is so essential - because most people are really bad at calculating their own risk vs. reward.
Risk: $1000 a year in home insurance that could be used to buy something else.
Reward: the 1 in 1000 chance that your home burns down, you aren't completely boned.
The risk is relatively small. $1000 a year isn't going to change your life. But the safety that it buys you is huge, because it prevents your life from being devastated should something unlucky happen.
> most people are really bad at calculating their own risk vs. reward.
Considering how easy it is, that's unlikely. After all, consider:
* If you can afford to lose the insured item, and
* If a mortgage lender doesn't require you to carry insurance, and
* If an insurance company wants to sell you a policy,
* Then you're better off self-insuring.
This is not rocket science.
> You are why universal healthcare is so essential
I agree that universal health care is essential, simply because of where we are, not on basic principles. But it's equally true that health insurance is the reason why health costs are spiraling out of control -- people aren't bargaining for good deals in that "market" because the insurance company is paying. If we were required to pay out of pocket for each health expenditure, we would see a big decline in costs.
The evidence? Many doctors and dentists have two price lists -- one for the insured and one for the uninsured. The uninsured pay less.
I emphasize that we definitely need universal health care, and the sooner the better. Nothing I say should be interpreted as doubting this necessity. But this is only because we've painted ourselves into a corner.
Risk: $1000 a year in home insurance that could be used to buy something else.
Reward: the 1 in 1000 chance that your home burns down, you aren't completely boned.
The risk is relatively small. $1000 a year isn't going to change your life. But the safety that it buys you is huge, because it prevents your life from being devastated should something unlucky happen.