Re:TV doctors say annual checkups save lives. Real doctors c...
by londons_explore on Saturday May 27, 2023 @06:26PM
(#36099016)
> insurers probably have better actuarial data
Imagine you are an insurer and advise free annual checkups. Some of your patients don't bother. Those patients have a higher mortality. You conclude the annual checkup is good.
But you might be deceiving yourself - the kind of people to ignore health advice about getting an annual checkup might also be the kind of people to ignore the health advice on the back of a cigarette packet...
Re:TV doctors say annual checkups save lives. Real doctors c...
by nradov on Saturday May 27, 2023 @10:14PM
(#36100511)
Major medical insurers are not naive about this stuff. They employ expert actuaries and data scientists who understand statistics and causality.
Re:TV doctors say annual checkups save lives. Real doctors c...
by londons_explore on Sunday May 28, 2023 @04:45AM
(#36102253)
Sure, they understand the problem... But is there anything they can do about it?
I'm not aware of insurance companies being too keen on getting into medical experiments like 'people with a birthday on a Thursday don't get the free annual checkup'.
On the other hand, insurers probably have better actuarial data because of annual checkups and can better align their profit margins with fees. Thus reducing their own reinsurance fees.