• dylanmorgan@slrpnk.net
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      15
      ·
      1 year ago

      Or insurance needs to be nationalized and not run for profit. Insurance started as a way for rich people to hedge against a total loss when investing in long distance trading ventures. Insurers then found a way to worm into every aspect of life including things like housing which is not a venture undertaken by choice.

        • Barry Zuckerkorn@beehaw.org
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          7
          ·
          1 year ago

          Yes, any insurance company with “mutual” in the name is basically operated for the benefit of the insured parties. The owners are the policyholders, and any profit the insurance company makes gets paid out to the policyholders as dividends essentially partially offsetting the cost of their ongoing premiums.

          Turns out, though, plenty of insurance companies run this way can still enrich their executives at the expense of policyholders and owners, so you still need to keep an eye out for self-interested individuals (or incompetence that costs everyone money), even if the company itself isn’t profit-driven.