In the current U.S. health-care debate, you hear the phrase “pre-existing conditions” a lot – usually in the context of someone claiming that health insurers shouldn’t be “allowed” to consider pre-existing conditions when deciding whether or not to offer (or under what terms to offer) to sell a health insurance policy to a potential customer.
It seems to me that this is analogous to saying that a fire insurance company shouldn’t be “allowed” to consider the black smoke pouring out of the warehouse you’re asking them to ensure. Whatever the merits of other proposals, this one is just silly; if you know that someone is going to make higher-than-average claims, of course you’re going to charge them higher-than-average premiums. (This is why, if you have a DUI, your auto insurance rates go up.)
