### social organization | institution:

Insurance company
* Insurance companies Includes life insurance offices and insurance offices
  - analyse actuarial tables to determine rates
* Insurance companies are a central component of the U.S. health care problem
  - major source of parts vehicles for automotive recyclers
  - as different as people
  - both sources and managers of assets
  - business houses
  - equal opportunity oppressors
  - exempt from antitrust laws
* Insurance companies are financial institutions
  - intermediaries that provide capital to the capital markets
* Insurance companies are in business to make a profit
  - make money
* Insurance companies are in the business of making a profit
  - of making money
  - of selling protection from pure risk
  - major customers, to provide rapid response to clients who call
  - notorious for risk stratification and avoidance of high-cost patients
  - service companies
  - society's most successful bookies
  - the automotive recycler's major source of vehicles
* Insurance companies base their premiums mainly on their total claims costs
  - rates on the type of industry and the employers' loss experience
  - belong to one of the most important sectors of the economy in Switzerland
  - benefit because they stay competitive and employers have less to administer
  - bet on the future by studying the experience of the past
  - buy reinsurance to protect themselves from catastrophic losses
  - can also benefit and save millions of marks
  - charge low premiums for people in their twenties and thirties
* Insurance companies collect and test urine samples for policy approval
  - premiums from policy holders
  - constitute one of the biggest portfolio holders on the stock exchange
  - deal with traffic accidents
  - differ greatly in how they insure older homes
  - drive a significant portion of the economy
  - employ many attorneys who practice only for that one client
  - focus on the short-term gains of health care
  - form one of the largest industries in the United States
* Insurance companies have a critical stake in the health and safety of communities
  - access to costs of all types of medical care and procedures
  - many policies that lead to a lower quality of care
  - special investigative units to look closely into suspicious claims
  - increase premiums annually in line with medical inflation
  - indicate obesity shortens life-spans
* Insurance companies issue annuities
  - contracts of adhesion
  - keep extensive databases on the types of insurance they sell
  - leverage capital and market savvy into generous shares of the premium dollar
  - maintain records on car accidents and fires
* Insurance companies make money by paying out less than the total of collected premiums
* Insurance companies owned by stockholders, on the other hand, try to maximize profits
  - tobacco companies charge smokers nearly double for term life insurance
  - produce and sell a wide range of products
  - profit by paying less
* Insurance companies profit from smoking
  - underwriting risks - and marketing to the healthy
  - put their policies on computers
  - rely on data and statistics to make critical business decisions
  - sell financial services products
  - spend lots of money studying the health habits of individuals
  - tell funny stories people have used to explain accidents
* Insurance companies try to distribute costs fairly by charging accident-prone people more
  - reward drivers that they think are good risks
  - understand that after an accident a person is very vulnerable
  - use aerial photography to document property losses
  - vary a lot in how they consider congenital heart disease
  - work on probabilities
  - write policies and receive revenues, known as premiums
* Many insurance companies believe that the older a car is, the more accident-prone it becomes.
* Many insurance companies cover massage therapy treatments if prescribed by a physician
  - medically necessary treatment of sports conditions
  - the costs of prenatal diagnosis
  - deny that autism medical condition
* Many insurance companies have a presence on the Web, as do insurance agents
  - web pages on actuarial careers and jobs
  - offer policies which cover the legal expenses for certain disputes
  - own large blocks of stock in banks and vice-versa
  - pay for hearing screening and diagnostic testing for infants and children
  - provide telephone helplines for policyholders facing an emergency
  - publish books to help facilitate record- keeping
  - use mobile homes as servicing centers after a disaster
* Most insurance companies are complex financial institutions
  - well-managed financial institutions
  - cover prenatal care, delivery and post-natal care
  - help pay for mammograms
* Most insurance companies offer nutrition benefits for medical conditions
  - term and whole life insurance as well as credit life insurance
  - require their doctors to be board certified
  - view diabetes as a pre-existing condition
* Some insurance companies allow unmarried couples living together to obtain joint coverage
  - cover immunosuppressive drugs for approved organ transplants
  - decrease fire insurance premiums for a smoke-free workplace
* Some insurance companies do offer contraceptive riders to their customers
  - pay benefits if there is pain or discomfort which impedes activity
  - issue policies known as graded death benefit insurance
* Some insurance companies offer event insurance for weddings
  - pollution liability insurance
  - provide coverage for the purchase of wigs
  - require a referral to donate autologous blood
  - specialize in small-business insurance coverage
+ Normal distribution: Probability distributions
  * Insurance companies use normal distributions to model certain average cases.