Sleeping wrong and waking up with a painful, stiff neck

[sam h]

This happened to my girlfriend today. She can hardly move without pain and has a very important interview tomorrow. Anybody know any home remedies or solutions to make this go away? Going to see a doctor is not a preferable option since she temporarily has no health insurance.

[Reef]

If the pain keeps up for awhile, I'd see a chiropractor.

For temporary relief tomorrow, maybe have her get a therapuetic type massage right before the interview and take tylenol.

[istewart]

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has no health insurance.

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WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE

[BusterStacks]

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has no health insurance.

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WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE

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You do realize this is very expensive if you have to get it from a 3rd party, right?

[jakethebake]

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has no health insurance.

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WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE

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You do realize this is very expensive if you have to get it from a 3rd party, right?

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Not as expensive as the potential alternative. WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?

[Tron]

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has no health insurance.

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WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE

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You do realize this is very expensive if you have to get it from a 3rd party, right?

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Not as expensive as the potential alternative. WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?

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[gumpzilla]

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Not as expensive as the potential alternative. WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?

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With the exception of Medicare and Medicaid, I don't see health insurance companies existing if they aren't making a profit. Which means that the premiums need to be worked out such that for most people, they pay in more than they get back. Now, if you know you're particularly unhealthy, then maybe (I ordinarily hate using this term outside of poker, physics or statistics contexts, but I think it actually fits here) health insurance is +EV, but I think for most people it's probably slightly -EV.

It's not purely a question of EV, of course. Most people wouldn't put all of their assets on an even money bet where they have 60-40 odds, even though it's a pretty sweet +EV situation. It's this angle that I think health insurance aims at. I certainly appreciate health insurance - I'd be out a substantial amount of money if I didn't have it right now - but I'm also not sure you appreciate how expensive health insurance can be if it's not being subsidized/paid for by an employer.

The real coup for the health insurance companies is that the big ones enter into contracts with most health care providers such that the providers write off much of what they would ordinarily bill for various procedures. As a result, now that I think of this, you can probably end up in win-win situations with your health insurance company where they profit off of you, but you still save money if you incur any kind of substantial medical bills. It's always struck me as bizarre, and at least somewhat wrong, that the people that get shafted hardest by medical bills are the ones without health insurance, who are as a rule going to be those who can least afford it.

[jakethebake]

Of course it's -EV on average. I think pretty much everyone who's not completely retarted understands that. But you're still a [censored] moran if you don't get it.

If you seriously don't have it just because it's -EV you're just stupid. Not to mention you're probably just another slug that will expect the rest of us to take care of you when something happens to you.

[Worrots]

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I don't see health insurance companies existing if they aren't making a profit ... if you know you're particularly unhealthy...

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I'm going to try and not talk too much like an economist here.

The insurance company doesn't exist to provide you with health care. It exists to take the financial risk off your hands -- that's what you're paying them to do and what they get a profit for doing. You don't know ahead of time whether you're going to get hit by a bus -- you pay them to bear the financial risk of it happening.

Without insurance:
EV = (probability uninjured)*(all your money) - (probability hit by bus)*(cost of health care)

This is high variance as p(bus) is small but c(health care) is potentially huge.

With insurance:
EV = (all your money) - (small relative cost of insurance)

Your variance is very small -- whether or not your EV is smaller depends on the probabilities.

Note that we're talking financial EV here, actual EV (utility) differs. Most people value the money they have already more than the money they might get later i.e. they're risk averse i.e. a probability-adjusted dollar lost to health care costs is worth more than a dollar saved by not buying health insurance.

In other words, unless you're one of those rare people who somehow enjoy gambling way beyond your bankroll, paying someone else to take on your risk of catastrophic health care is EV+. (Assuming your basic needs of food, water, shelter, clothing, etc. are already met.)

[daryn]

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has no health insurance.

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WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE

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You do realize this is very expensive if you have to get it from a 3rd party, right?

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Not as expensive as the potential alternative. WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?

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this is actually not true. insurance is -EV by definition. how do you think insurance companies make money?



btw i am just stating the obvious. clearly with the high costs involved in serious medical treatment, insurance is a good idea.