Female Problems

It's that time of the month. The time of the month when women go crazy and start shouting, "Discrimination!" And the topic this month is the hot topic everywhere - healthcare.

Today's headlines were all about how insurance companies are "unfairly" charging higher premiums on women. As both a woman and an accountant (which is pretty close to an actuary in some ways), I didn't even need to read the articles. Of course they charge more!

For a quick summary of why this is so obvious, just think about the healthcare needs particular to women. Even if we take pregnancy out of the picture (because not every woman is even in a position to become pregnant, and some become pregnant multiple times), women's healthcare costs are much higher than men's. We have annual mamograms and pap smears. The articles stated that women's risks for female related cancers such as ovarian cancer and breast cancer are much higher and at much younger ages than other types of cancer. Women take more drugs than men (in addition to most regular drugs, women take birth control pills, anti-depression, and anti-anxiety medications). Finally, there is the personality difference between men and women in that women are more likely to visit a doctor when they become sick, as opposed to men who try to "tough it up."

Insurance companies, when calculating the cost of premiums for their customers (your employer) look at the mix of employees. The larger the group of employees, the better the rates, because risks are spread out. (For insance, I, as a healthy twenty-something, help to mitigate the cost of insurance for a coworker who might be overweight and in her late 50's). Small companies can be hit especially hard by high risk individuals on their payrolls. These individuals include smokers, overweight individuals, and women. Therefore, the outcry is that companies that employ a disproportionate amount of women are being penalized in their insurance premiums. And sometimes they pass that cost on to the employees, who are women.

First of all, let me point out that smoking and obseity are both lifestyle choices. Companies and insurance providers both try to battle the costly effects of insuring smokers and overweight individuals without being prejudiced or unjust. However, being a woman is not a lifestyle choice, and therefore I can see how, on the surface, some people might see the extra costs as unfair.

But the fact is, they're not. They are the result of years and years of research and statistics. People at the insurance companies are paid (fairly well I believe) to aggregate data on how much healthcare costs, who it goes to, and how much they need to charge companies to make the business worthwhile. If the insurance companies were to stop considering the effect of gender on costs, then premiums would rise for men. Some companies would see no difference, but other companies, would feel the brunt of the change. Suddenly men would be penalized - but this time for no reason, as opposed to women who are actually using the services. Further, a more likely scenario is that, if women's and men's premiums are the same for fairness sake, insurance companies would simply increase rates all around the board. This would be great for their profits, but would hurt everyone equally.

Here's another fact to consider - I have always wondered which is more expensive, being a man or a woman. For instance, men have to shave. They have to have haircuts much more often than women. Historically they have been expected to pay for dates.

Women choose to buy lots of clothes and makeup, but that's not a necessary expense. But what about necessary expenses? We will always have male and female only expenses in our lives to deal with. Do women rise up in protest because they have to pay for their monthly feminine products? Using the same logic as the unhappy women in the news today, it would be unfair for them to have to pay for these products every month, just because they use them. It doesn't matter that they are necessary. They should be free. In fact, we should make men pay for them.

Or what about shampoo? Due to the (typically) longer hair worn by women, we consume more hair products than men. We should get bottles that are 33% bigger than the bottles men buy. That way they will last the same length of time and cost the same.

What about other female only products, whether necessary or unecessary? It's the same concept of healthcare. The more you use, the more you pay for it. Take gender out of it. If I want 100 apples, I have to pay for 100 apples. If I want one apple, I pay for one apple. If I buy 100 apples, I can't complain because the guy in the line behind me bought one apple and paid less.

Women, it's time to grow up. We are women. We are proud of it. And we all know, even if it's buried way deep down inside of us, that we would much rather deal with the additional cost of being female than be a man any day.

Now, excuse me, please, I have a doctor's appointment to go to...

A Shout Out to My Favorite Gas Station

If I won the lottery - or any sum of money that would allow me to pursue my whims - one thing I would like to do would be to buy a gas station - and to clean it. Yes, I would clean this gas station - from sweeping and mopping the floors regularly, to keeping the bathrooms clean.

I have grown tired of running into gas stations along the highway only to wonder if I am going to get a disease from the restrooms in it and to trip over doubtful looking garbage all the way to the front door. (By the way - when I discussed this problem with my dad, who travels about 90% of teh time, he suggested that I only use gas stations for bathroom breaks as a last resort. His first choice is a hotel, which makes sense. The bathroom in the lobby is open to everyone and will be clean to attract visitors. The next choice would be a restaurant of any kind - the fancier the restaurant, the better kept the restroom). Back to my dream...

Some gas stations are small and crowded. Others have candy covered in dust.

And from a business perspective you may ask what could I possibly get out of owning a gas station? Gasoline has probably the lowest margin of any product that we can buy. As much as we complain about gas prices, the gas stations aren't the ones that are making much money off it. In recent years they have been able to earn a little more money by letting gas prices lag behind oil prices, thereby creating a higher return before they are forced to drop prices down. Pay at the pump gas stations have, for the most part, gone under because, even though they have a lower day to day cost (no employees for one), the margin is too low to sustain the business by itself.

That's why gas stations have convenient stores attached. In fact, what we call a "gas station" is your gas pumps plus convenience store. The store charges much higher margin on little items because they are "convenient," and they use the gas pumps to draw people to the store. This is also why some grocery stores and Sam's Clubs attach gas stations to their stores, hoping to draw more customers inside, as the gas business is not that luctrative.

Back to my gas station - even though it is probably not the easiest business to start off in, I made my decision to "buy" a gas station in my fantasy because I wanted to clean it up. But I wasn't considering the fact that there is already a clean gas station (two actually).

Quik Trip is a local gas station chain. I know for sure that it operates in Kansas but not Illinois. I don't know how far it reaches or in what directions. However, it seems that the marketing strategy of Quik Trip has been quality. Although price competition is tough (and I don't know that Quik Trip's prices are any higher than other gas stations), the chain operates on providing quality gas, clean stores, and good customer service (I have met with a kind of creepy employee, but no HR department is perfect in their screening).

This is the kind of gas station you go in just to go in. They have high quality baked goods, lots of food choices other than candy and snacks, and amazing drink specials in the summer. Before BP, I remember Quik Trip always advertising on their guaranteed gasoline. If your car broke down and it was traced to Quik Trip gas, they would cover the cost.

The success of Quik Trip has spawned another luxury gas station (if you could call it that), Kwik Shop. This shop is owned by Kroger / Dillons. They offer discounts on gas for those who have the Kroger shoppers card. However, I still prefer to patronize Quik Trip over Kwik Shop because of Quik Trip's cake donuts! (Kwik Shop uses Krispy Kreme donuts for the most part).

As I mentioned before, both gas stations run clean operations without seeming to increase prices (even discounted gas for Kwik Shop regular customers). How much better could it be?

So I want to give a shout out to two businesses who are doing things right. Way to go Quik Trip in leading the trend in clean gas stations!

Goin' Parkin'

I have noticed a new phenomenon pop up in the form of signs in parking lots. They are getting common these days, and I see them everywhere! In addition to the legally mandated handicap parking, many parking lots now have signs designating parking for senior citizens and / or mothers or expecting mothers. While I appreciate what stores are trying to do with these signs, I also think there are a lot of problems with them.

First of all, let me point out that these signs are not legal designations. To park in a handicap parking spot you have to have a sticker. These signs are put up by well meaning store owners.

The second problem is similar to the legal issue. These signs attempt to allow prime spots to people who might have difficulty getting into and out of the store. Much like the handicap signs, they are closer to the store and give preference to certain populations. But the problem is that these populations aren't actually handicapped.

Being a senior citizen by name doesn't necessarily make someone disabled or even slow. In fact, many people driving around with handicap parking stickers happen to also be senior citizens. Being one doesn't make you the other.

Similarly, I am not so sure that being an expecting mother or even a new mother makes one in need of a better parking spot. To be sure, sometimes pregnancies require women to take it easy. However, simple exertion such as walking is usually allowable. Shopping carts level the playing field.

In fact, the additional walk from the parking lot to the store can be healthy for anyone involved.

However, the real reason that these signs are well intentioned but missing the point is that they are trying to force kindness.

This forcing of kindness never works. It just makes people bitter. One of the best examples of forcing of kindness is taxes. Who likes to see their taxes go up? Who sees their taxes go up and gets inspired to go out and do something charitable? In the same way, forcing those of us who are "less well" than others to park farther away takes from us a very important choice.

I have a great friend who tries to park far away from the store on purpose. My own personal law is to never drive around in circles to find a close spot (but to find the closest I can on my first pass). I have (before these signs popped up) tried to remember to park farther away, but I make a personal exception for when I am making a quick trip in, and when it is cold. (I think that if there is Senior Citizen or Expectant Mother parking, then 10 or 15 minute parking should be allowable...why not give the best spots to the fastest turnaround? Why should my trip into the store take as long as the entire time I am in the store?)

Now that these signs are up, the choice is gone. If I park far from the store it cannot be out of goodwill for those who may be less healthy than me. By default, I park far from the store because I have to.

And where does it end? Once we healthy people move back to accomodate the handicap, senior citizens, and new and expectant mothers, what new category is going to pop up? 10-15 Minute parking? Cold and flu parking? Should parking lots be sectioned off according to age and remedy?

The point is, there is a reason that for as long as there have been parking lots there have been handicap sections. And only handicap sections. As much as we would like to see everyone park according to need (healthy people in the back), that doesn't happen, and we can't force good behavior on people. It has to come from the heart, or it doesn't mean anything.