Major insurers in the United States, Canada and Europe own more than $1.88 billion in stocks in the five leading fast food companies: McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s/Arby’s, Jack in the Box, and Yum! Brands, which own KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.
So the Health Insurance Companies are investing in tobacco and fast food...one would think that they would be more interested in actually keeping us healthy. If not for moral and ethical reasons, than perhaps simply so that they have fewer claims to pay. Of course, if we are all healthy, maybe we wouldn't want to buy insurance.
In their 2009 paper on tobacco, Boyd and his colleagues suggested that insurance companies profit twice over by investing in tobacco stocks, since they can charge higher premiums to smokers and also profit if the stock rises. A similar dynamic may be at work with fast food, according to Boyd.
"They can charge you more for life insurance if you have these negative health outcomes that people have as a result of eating fast food," he says.
Hmmmm...
Fast Food Fueled by Insurance Firms
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