Risk

Today's LA Times has an article on insurance written by Peter G. Gosselin.  George Wallace has an initial commentary on the article.  I will have some later today.  George makes an intriguing point

The purported thrust of the piece is that insurers have become increasingly sophisticated at identifying the particular risks posed by a particular insured, to the extent that there is a move away from "pooling" of heterogeneous risks -- so that large groups of not-necessarily similar insureds pay essentially the same premium, with lower risk insureds effectively subsidizing higher risk insureds -- and toward case-by-case pricing, in which those who individually face heightened and particularized perils are charged accordingly high premiums -- to which the LATimes piece implicitly adds: "Whether they can afford it or not."

This is definitely reporting with a point of view, which seems to be roughly that insurance should be priced more on the basis of ability to pay than on the basis of the risk that the insurer is agreeing to undertake.

emphasis added.