"The thing that will really improve software is when someone figures out how to establish a [more] direct link between the risks of using a product and the creation of the product. The software industry seems to think the tobacco industry business model is a good one. It's okay to kill your customers, there will always be a new one to replace the one you just lost."
— Scott James, as seen in the 15 March 2002 issue of Crypto-Gram
At most of the companies that I've worked for, they have a deal on life insurance that is very inexpensive, but with one catch — you have to sign-up for the life insurance before your first day of work (more or less), or else you have to jump through some hoops if you later want to get the insurance. It turns out there's a reason why, as described by Daniel A. Graifer (dgraifer@cais.com) in the 15 Apr 2001 Crypto-Gram newsletter:
… the other big bugaboo of insurance: "adverse selection": Insurance buyers have better knowledge of their risk characteristics than the insurers, leading higher risk clients to over-insure (because it's cheap relative to the risks) and low risk clients to under-insure. That's why non-elective group insurance is cheaper than individual policies in any risk category.