Should young men pay the same for car insurance and young women pay the same for health insurance?

A part of me thinks that those who cost insurance companies more should pay more. But that could really suck in the real world. Because just because we may cost more don’t mean we make more money. Most insurance is paid by those that don’t use it. If the money paid out was proportioned by who paid in that need it nearly nothing would ever be covered. Most of the pay-out money comes from other peoples money that never make a claim.

When it comes to health insurance, women are considered a higher risk than men because they tend to visit the doctor more frequently, live longer, and have babies.
Whether or not women truly cost health insurance companies more money is up for debate.

Regardless, gender rating is now illegal in the US. Insurance companies are prohibited from charging women more than men and are required to cover the total cost of certain key preventative services specific to women’s health, like well-woman visits and contraception.

Car insurance is costlier for men and not gender regulated. Here is a reference on cost by ages and gender..

I had honestly never heard that females were charged more for health insurance. But, I do understand that young women probably do cost insurance companies more money. Starting at 18, I was going for yearly gynecologist exams. Also with pregnancy and after care for younger women.
I knew young men are charged more for car insurance due to statistics showing they have more accidents.
Is this fair? I don’t know. I would think insurance companies could treat this as they do homeowners insurance. People in southern states get major property loss due to hurricanes and tornadoes. Insurance companies spread the costs through all customers regardless of weather conditions in their state.

@chyna ACA compliance got rid of charging women more for health insurance and some people disagreed with it, so it’s still a topic to be discussed so to speak. Regarding car insurance it’s still ok to charge more to young men based on the fact that on average they are more risky.

Home insurance is a good one to add. Thank you for mentioning it. I’m sure you know there are riders that people can opt in or out of like earthquake and sink hole. In hurricane prone areas we have a different deductible for wind. Like the overall homeowners policy might be a $1,000 deductible, but wind would be 2% of the dwelling. So, a $400k house has an $8,000 deductible for wind. Homeowners doesn’t have the gender issue though.

Absolutely not. Pricing for insurance should reflect actuarial realities.

@Entropy So, for health care you think women should pay more because they might get pregnant? Do you think there should be insurance available that doesn’t include maternity care that would be cheaper? I had that type of insurance in my mid 20’s before I decided to go off birth control.

Well, if women get charged more for health insurance on the grounds that they might get pregnant, then I want a refund as I’ve now gone mennopause and never had any children, LOL!

By the way, it upsets me that car insurance companies charge more if you are single than if you are married. I found that out after my dad stopped driving permanently, and we were adjusting my mom’s account. How crazy is that!?

@RayaHope Most of the pay-out money comes from other peoples money that never make a claim.

I find that hard to believe. Can you cite a source?

@JLeslie …do you think ACA went too far requiring insurance for pregnancy and birth? Should women be able to opt out of maternity care.

On the surface it appears that opting out should be a woman’s right. But who’s going to pay for all of the babies who are born with problems because their moms declined prenatal care?

do you think ACA went too far requiring insurance for pregnancy and birth? Should women be able to opt out of maternity care.

??

Insurance is not pre-payment for guaranteed expenses. It is paying a small amount for possible expenses. Most payers will get no return. A few will have their costly bills paid.

Opting out means you will become a burden to everyone else if you can’t pay your big medical bill.

@Call_Me_Jay I’m not stating my own opinion, I’m curious about other people’s opinion and being a little bit of devil’s advocate. Plenty of people have no risk of getting pregnant, so that’s not the same as a possible risk of getting cancer.