Sharing the Load: Amish Healthcare Financing (2016)
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Sharing the Load: Amish Healthcare Financing (2016)
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Re: Sharing the Load: Amish Healthcare Financing (2016)
#2For an example of how most of these cost-sharing plans go, see this article on the implosion of a commercial plan that preyed on the Mennonites of southern Ohio: https://www.propublica.org/article/liberty-healthshare-healt...
Amish economics are weird, because the deep aversion to debt tends to create winner-take-all scenarios: an Amish farmer might become wealthy from mineral and gas rights on his property, for example, and plow those funds into setting up a general store, which creates funds that go into a restaurant — and from there a hotel, a gas station, a gift shop, and pretty soon half the county is working for him. Since no Amish would consider a bank or SBA loan, new business starts are confined to either English outsiders or a small number of very wealthy Amish. (One guy in the cabinet business had a Rolls Royce with solid rubber tires — don’t ask — and an English driver whose name the car was officially in. Technically, not a violation of religious strictures!)
Re: Sharing the Load: Amish Healthcare Financing (2016)
#3I worked in insurance for over five years. This is a very good read.
1. They keep costs down in part by pursuing home remedies for a lot of things instead of seeing a doctor. They have established sources of information and support for this practice.
2. When it comes to medical care, they are not Luddites and are willing to use cutting edge technologies to care for medical issues.
3. I was struck by the repeated mention of genetic disorders. It makes me wonder if this is a big issue in the Amish community. If so, one solution would be to encourage young people to marry outsiders, which is probably not encouraged as it tends to be a threat to the culture of groups like this. By I see it as extremely irresponsible to knowingly pursue practices that increase the odds of children being born with genetic disorders.
Neither Amish Hospital Aid nor congregational alms funding cover health care needs that result from prohibited activities within the Amish community. One interviewee mentioned an incident that occurred with a teenage boy in her congregation who was injured in a snowmobiling accident. The use of motor vehicles (e.g., cars, tractors, snow mobiles) is strictly forbidden in Old Order Amish culture.
This may sound harsh to some people, but all insurance policies have exemptions which (at least for accident policies) more or less boil down to "if you are behaving irresponsibly and get yourself hurt through taking undue risks, we are not paying for the consequences of your foolish behavior" -- only, you know, in legalese that is defensible in court if necessary.
I will note that as someone who processed accident claims, minors who lost limbs driving recreational vehicles like snow mobiles always broke my heart. If you have children and you own anything like a snow mobile, please make sure it is secured and they cannot go for a joy ride on Saturday morning while you sleep in.
Re: Sharing the Load: Amish Healthcare Financing (2016)
#4Its crazy that there are laws against offering health insurance in the open market. There is no reason you couldn't shop around for a plan just like you do for car or home owners insurance.
Re: Sharing the Load: Amish Healthcare Financing (2016)
#5I worked in insurance for over five years. This is a very good read. 1. They keep costs down in part by pursuing home remedies for a lot of things instead of seeing a doctor. They have established sources of information and support for this practice. 2. When it comes to medical care, they are not Luddites and are willing to use cutting edge technologies to care for medical issues. 3. I was struck by the repeated ment…
I had an anthropology professor in college who did some work on genetic diseases in the Amish. It is a problem. This Wikipedia has a short overview and a lot of references:
Re: Sharing the Load: Amish Healthcare Financing (2016)
#6I worked in insurance for over five years. This is a very good read. 1. They keep costs down in part by pursuing home remedies for a lot of things instead of seeing a doctor. They have established sources of information and support for this practice. 2. When it comes to medical care, they are not Luddites and are willing to use cutting edge technologies to care for medical issues. 3. I was struck by the repeated ment…
The Amish are aware of their small population problem. I believe their population bottleneck was a few hundred people.
They do sometimes adopt children from outside their population. I don't know how common that is and whether it makes a difference.
Re: Sharing the Load: Amish Healthcare Financing (2016)
#7For an example of how most of these cost-sharing plans go, see this article on the implosion of a commercial plan that preyed on the Mennonites of southern Ohio: https://www.propublica.org/article/liberty-healthshare-healt... Amish economics are weird, because the deep aversion to debt tends to create winner-take-all scenarios: an Amish farmer might become wealthy from mineral and gas rights on his property, for exam…
Would have been impressive if he put the RR in neutral and got it pulled by horses.
Re: Sharing the Load: Amish Healthcare Financing (2016)
#8Its crazy that there are laws against offering health insurance in the open market. There is no reason you couldn't shop around for a plan just like you do for car or home owners insurance.
Is that not what I do when comparing plans on healthcare.gov?
Re: Sharing the Load: Amish Healthcare Financing (2016)
#9For an example of how most of these cost-sharing plans go, see this article on the implosion of a commercial plan that preyed on the Mennonites of southern Ohio: https://www.propublica.org/article/liberty-healthshare-healt... Amish economics are weird, because the deep aversion to debt tends to create winner-take-all scenarios: an Amish farmer might become wealthy from mineral and gas rights on his property, for exam…
Aside: Hoovies Garage on YouTube taught me that keeping a old Rolls or Bentley in perfect working order costs literally tens of thousands of dollars a year in parts and maintenance - nothing stays ‘fixed’ for very long.
Someone should do a kit car with Toyota mechanicals and a Rolls style body!
Re: Sharing the Load: Amish Healthcare Financing (2016)
#10For an example of how most of these cost-sharing plans go, see this article on the implosion of a commercial plan that preyed on the Mennonites of southern Ohio: https://www.propublica.org/article/liberty-healthshare-healt... Amish economics are weird, because the deep aversion to debt tends to create winner-take-all scenarios: an Amish farmer might become wealthy from mineral and gas rights on his property, for exam…
Aside: Hoovies Garage on YouTube taught me that keeping a old Rolls or Bentley in perfect working order costs literally tens of thousands of dollars a year in parts and maintenance - nothing stays ‘fixed’ for very long. Someone should do a kit car with Toyota mechanicals and a Rolls style body!
We call them “Lexus”