Orlov on "Hunger Insurance"
Sharon August 24th, 2009
Orlov does it again:
“I would like to sell you some hunger insurance. Are you insured against hunger? Perhaps you should be! Without this coverage, you may find it impossible to continue to afford feeding yourself and your family. With this coverage, not only will you be assured of continuing to get at least some food, but so will I. In fact, thanks to this plan, I will get to eat very, very well indeed.
Here’s how it works. You buy a hunger insurance plan from my hunger insurance company, or from one of my illustrious competitors in the hunger insurance industry. The hunger insurance market is very competitive, offering you plenty of consumer choice. You can even decide to go with a hunger maintenance organization (HMO); that would make a lot of sense if you are on a diet.
Whichever company you choose buys up food in bulk on your behalf. Then, should you come down with a case of hunger, you can file a claim, pay the copayment, and get some of the food. Certain feeding procedures, such as breakfast, are considered elective, and are not covered.
The company is in a position to demand lower prices for food from the food providers, and can even pass some of these savings on to you. (But the fine folks in the hunger insurance company do have to eat too, you know.) Of course, the food providers try to make up the difference by charging those without hunger insurance much higher prices, but how can anyone blame them? That’s just market economics. There may also be some food-related benefits, such as lower rental rates on bowls, spoons, napkins and feeding tubes (check the details of your plan).”
Read the whole thing. You’ll laugh, but nervously.
>You’ll laugh, but nervously.
That would be me. It’s scary to think that this sort of “insurance” could actually be created in the near future. Yikes. I’m sure someone has already got it in the wings and ready to go. Double Yikes.
I’m going to stick with my own “food insurance” – foods grown in my own yard. The good news is that the neighbors to the north say we can farm their front yard next year! And we’re working on creating a small hoop house to nurse our tomatoes along another month. Food security is us!
Kerri in AK
Go Kerri! Best wishes on building the hoop house
Yeah, definitely classic Orlov
And quite frankly if something isn’t done to improve health coverage/insurance (however those improvements might be achieved), there are going to be plenty _more_ hungry people as they’re forced to choose between food and medical care/medicines.
You know, when I saw this piece post on ClubOrlov, I’d been spending DAYS (literally) trying to come up with an efficient, clear way to explain how a system of healthcare insurance that covers some, but not all, people, essentially removes healthcare from the marketplace and prices it out of range for anyone w/o coverage (and increasingly prices coverage out of range, too). So sure, Orlov writes up this piece that just perfectly captures the core of the problem, with a catchy, helpful, clear metaphor. Damnit. I wish I could write like that.
Yikes -
I read it but I could hardly summon a sardonic smile. But there are important points to be made in that article so thanks for pointing it out to us.
cheers,
shamba
I’m Australian – and have a govt-funded healthcare system, Medicare – so have never fully understood the impact of the US system. This helped a lot.
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