At no point in time is the insurance linked to outcomes, different ways to provide healthcare or any of the difficult policy issues we have discussed before: palliative care, entitlements of all the best care available, the lack of patient responsibility in their own health, etc.

FORBES: How Obamacare Raises Healthcare Costs

Insurance and health are often linked and confused, with proponents of universal coverage making the argument that health insurance itself is an important determinant of health because it guarantees access to medical care.

FORBES: Oregon Health Experiment Shows That Having Health Insurance Is Different Than Being Healthy

Hay, who led Livingston to CIS Insurance Cup glory in March, has been strongly linked with a move to Hibs.

BBC: Livi manager Davie Hay

The model has even been stretched to other industries, including a credit card that offers discounts linked to well-being and car insurance that offers cheaper petrol to people who drive safely (a telemetric device installed in your car monitors aggressive driving, like harsh acceleration or sharp cornering).

ECONOMIST: Schumpeter

Dr. Jay Himmelstein, chief health policy strategist at the Center for Health Policy and Research at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, has analyzed various models for implementing insurance exchanges, writing with a colleague in the journal Health Affairs linked here about the importance of following the lead of early adopters, particularly paying attention to technology.

FORBES: Move up http://i.forbesimg.com t Move down

But more than half of those HSAs were linked to high-deductible plans purchased by individuals rather than group insurance plans.

FORBES: More Choices, More Confusion

The changing consumer behaviour is closely linked to rising fuel prices, as well as to tax and insurance costs, which are higher for thirsty and powerful cars that generally emit more CO2 than smaller models.

BBC: Sales of low emission cars soar in UK