Insurance was invented to mitigate risk across a population. Insurance successfully prevents devastating losses being incurred by individuals or small groups, and it allows society to progress and advance. In short, insurance is necessary for society to succeed- almost as vital as running water and housing.
So, since insurance is a very simple by-product of running an effective society, there is no real need for 'innovation' or advancement in that field. Its principles and practice have been the same since its inception. In other words- Insurance runs (and should run) the same way, no matter what society or what entity is being insured: individuals invest resources into a community pool, and those in need can pull from that pool of shared resources.
Clearly, insurance is incredibly important to society, and the insurance profession should be undertaken by caring, capable professionals who want to make a good living administering insurance and mitigating societal risk. The management of insurance should be done by professionals with masters or doctorate degrees, and they should be rewarded for their hard work and success with 6-figure salaries, generous benefits, 4-weeks paid vacation per year, and a pension package so they can retire comfortably with a middle-class lifestyle. Upper management in the insurance sector should make even more, possibly making as much as $300,000/year with all those amazing perks listed above, and more. This is a life anyone would be thrilled to have.
Well...I just described government employees working for a theoretical government agency that would handle insurance of all kinds-- from health insurance to car insurance. But as we all know, insurance isn't a government-run operation like Social Security and Medicare (because that would be the dreaded, evil, disgusting socialism!); but rather it is a private venture. So what does that mean for the business model of insurance?
Quite simply, the capitalist business model for the insurance industry is this: calculate how much money you need to properly mitigate societal risk, then charge more to ensure executive bonuses and multi-million dollar salaries, screwing over the insurance-paying population by making them overpay. Please think about this-- does a health insurance executive need to make $22 million in 1 year??? Especially when keeping in mind that insurance is solely an administrative task that is intrinsic to a functioning society. Trust me-- the health insurance market can still function without paying executives $22 million a year. Why? Because health insurance administration essentially runs itself. Millions pay in, and the money flows to those who need it when they need it. Anyone who skims off the top is essentially a scam artist making millions doing nothing. If you want to make millions of dollars every year, do NOT go into insurance-- it is a thief's game.
It's time we wake up and realize that private insurance is a scam, where executives steal billions from hard-working Americans, and everyone is left wondering why our system is broken. Insurance executives don't deserve billions every year to push paper around and administer other peoples' money-- people will gladly do that work for $150,000 a year with 4 weeks PTO, full health & dental benefits, and a full pension plan... in fact, I'd sign up for that right now, because I'll work my whole life in the private sector and will be incredibly lucky to sniff anywhere close to that compensation and life security.
We should all take a moment to reflect on our insurance industry, and how we can reign it in.