Torii Kiyomasu II
Susano-o no Mikoto Killing the Eight-headed Dragon
(1748)

"…Prosperity is NotInsurance, and never will be."

Prosperity spawns predators and pretenders. As medical insurance became more available, so-called “medical cards” emerged to serve those still frozen out of insurance markets, especially for prescriptions and dental services, which are often the most difficult kinds of insurance to afford. To this day, Medicare offers nothing to cover dental expenses, which often peak after one retires. Prescription drug plans have also become notorious for becoming worthless just at the time someone might actually need to rely on them. So, a ready market always awaits some latest scam. Our conservative friends and enemies have been most active in this shadow market, pushing plans that appear to supplement missing elements of seniors’ coverage, but which tend to promise more lavishly than they ever deliver. In recent years, states, which regulate insurance markets, have begun demanding that these alternatives to insurance coverage be clearly labeled, “This Is NotInsurance,” though these warnings make little difference to those without viable alternatives.

Make no mistake, this is not an insurance company problem, but a public policy one. Too many states still legislate as if they were made up, or should be made up, of self-made people, those who successfully pulled themselves up by their bootstraps. This belief dreadfully downplays the role public policy plays in creating public Prosperity, for the self-made citizen notion must certainly be a fable. It never actually happened, and couldn’t happen if only due to the impossible leverage it requires. The resulting policy essentially covers only those born lucky. The less fortunate need not apply. Their public alternatives to unaffordable insurance coverage also fail to qualify as insurance. The only difference seems to be that the public policy pretenders aren’t required to label themselves NotInsurance, without apologies for those unlucky enough to need the coverage it fails to adequately provide.

That kind of public policy could never have built Prosperity. The NotInsurance discount cards allow their holder to enjoy some of the benefits that those holding insurance enjoy. They allow users to take advantage of agreements the issuing company has negotiated, allowing cardholders to receive the same sort of discount an insurance company might negotiate and pass on to its policyholders. The difference lies in the lack of an enforceable contract between the card-issuing company and the cardholder. Their relationship remains distinctly less formal. The cardholder typically must agree to receive seemingly endless streams of promotional advertising, trying to goad them into purchasing other fine products and services. This marketing effort never ends and extends far beyond prescriptions or dental services, often into the true hobgoblin of PhoneyProsperity: supplements. Supplements promise better results than those received from consulting doctors and taking prescriptions, without the need to consult with doctors or hold prescription insurance. Their promises are nearly universally untested.

We should never mistake Prosperity itself for insurance. As I’ve said before, at any moment something could happen that could utterly change everything without recourse. Prosperity’s no guarantee that this event won’t one day visit you, though we’re always free to thoroughly enjoy our Prosperity while we may. One day, that privilege will be withdrawn without remorse or recourse, and Prosperity will not, on that day, perform as any insurance policy might. None of us are covered. None of us ever are. It’s with considerable delight (admit it!) that we watch the rich and powerful take their falls, their fame and wealth suddenly not negotiable instruments to ward off whatever eventually befell them. No amount of Prosperity ever renders anybody Scott-free, not even me. It seems important to stamp somewhere down there in the corner of your Prosperity the warning that “This Is NotInsurance,” if only to remind yourself of the context within which you temporarily prosper.

Likewise, Prosperity doesn’t seem all that useful for warding off even the more minor perturbations of existence. Sadness and depression can always visit, and even stay longer than anyone considers polite. The colds, flues, and Covids might be more treatable for those who enjoy some Prosperity, but they still inconvenience and take their tolls regardless of how lofty one’s profession or toney their address. Any of us can become weary at times, after, for instance, six weeks of caretaking undertaken without preparation. Even the easiest chore can sometimes seem like a great burden, and discouragement never seems to care how it times its visits. Those actually carrying insurance fare no better than the uninsured, depending upon which malady occurs. Not even the finest discount card can ward off every intrusion, and even those with employer-sponsored platinum insurance plans sometimes struggle to make their co-pay. Prosperity might be more reward than guarantee, though I probably need to be reminded that, however Prosperous I might feel, Prosperity is NotInsurance, and never will be.

©2026 by David A. Schmaltz - all rights reserved

Tags: #Prosperity, #PureSchmaltz