The Case of the Falling Premium

Inspector Hale: health insurance down 36% in four years, says the index, by one poster's reading. Wren: cheaper insurance, since when? The Ledger: the index never prices your premium; it prices premiums minus the benefits paid out, so a year of heavy claims makes the 'price' fall. Wren: a sick year reads as a discount. Nightjar: it measures the insurer's margin. Wren: 36%, says the post; alleged.

The health-insurance line in the CPI does not price premiums: by the statistics bureau's own method it prices insurers' retained earnings, premiums minus the benefits paid out, so a year of heavy claims shows up as a falling 'price' of insurance; that is how one commentator can point to a 36% drop over four years, a figure that is his claim.

Starring

Inspector HaleWrenThe LedgerNightjar