X-Message-Number: 1239
From: 
Subject: CRYONICS
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 92 22:07:43 PDT

Keith Lofstrom posted on: 

>Disadvantages for self-funded life insurance: 

In ref to point 1, I very much doubt the insurance companies lose 
money on the cryonics folks. 

Point 2, The cryonics crew is more varied than you might think at 
first.  I doubt we would get much in the way of common causes to 
be suspended.

Point 3, driving away older members, not likely.  As I pointed 
out, when someone got suspended who was using Alcor insurance, we 
would just take the money from one pocket and put it in another. 

Point 4.  If we had to we could duke it out with insurance 
commissioners, but as a group they are likely to be a lot easier 
to get along with than the State Health Department.  Mostly they 
deal in MONEY and don't care about much else.

Point 5.  Money in an insurance company is watched over by 
several organizations outside of the officers.  And hopefully, we 
will be paying living wages to the officers eventually--not that 
they have a tendency to raid the cookie jar anyway.  If they did, 
where would they go when they needed to be suspended?

Point 6.  I don't remember saying that insurance companies are 
making huge profits, but they are making money from suspension 
members.  And, in essence, we will be investing the patent care 
fund in an insurance company eventually.

Point 7.  If Alcor's insurance company decides a person is such a 
high risk that it will not take them, they can get insurance 
elsewhere.  There is no intent to make this an exclusive deal.  
After all, a lot of us are long locked into our insurance 
companies and can't switch.

Point 8.  Eventually Alcor will own a liquid nitrogen plant, more 
likely an entire company.  Like the insurance business, it is 
just a matter of time.  Re the concept of doing what you are good 
at, by that time, we will be able to get people who are good at 
it to run the insurance company and the LN2 plant.  With 
considerable luck, they may be both good at it and suspension 
members to boot.

[misc positive points deleted]

>Personally, I think none of the advantages are compelling reasons 
>to pick up another activity.  For us supporting members of a 
>small volunteer organization like Alcor, our time is better spent 
>in getting filthy rich doing the things we are good at, and 
>socking that money away for Alcor's current or eventual use.  

While there is no doubt that Alcor is still a small volunteer 
organization in a lot of places, and will be that way for a long 
time, its central operations are getting to be of significant 
size.  And with a doubling time of three years or so, we have to 
consider that it is going to be a rather substantial operation 
in the not too distant future.  

Actually, Alcor might well become associated with an insurance 
company owned by a member a lot sooner than we think.  There are 
several members who are wealthy enough to purchase a small 
insurance company in one of the states which does not require so 
much capital.  One of these might see an opportunity to do 
something profitable for themselves and Alcor.  One very astute 
(and *very* successful) businessman who has looked at the "mass 
market" aspects of cryonics concluded (after his own experiences 
getting signed up) that a "one step" (including financing) signup 
procedure would be required for cryonics to really grow.  I 
think he is right. 

Keith Henson

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