Yeah. It's the same way with auto insurance and warranties. The dealer covers the costs of any catastrophic maintainence for the first few years, so the consumer tends to skip out on routine maintainence like oil changes. And at those regular tune-ups, when the mechanics appraise someone of a developing problem, they tend to avoid preventative maintainence, saying, "Nah, I'll just let it fail so the warranty handles it."
. . . ;)
My theory is that the inconvenience of a major failure and the risk to life and limb are much more important to most folks than the tiny costs associated with regular and preventative maintainence. I know they're more important to me!
It's actually been rigorously shown to work the same way with medicine. There was a study on HSA / High Deductable plans already in use, and it found that use of preventative care actually increased compared to the baseline.
. . . ;)
My theory is that the inconvenience of a major failure and the risk to life and limb are much more important to most folks than the tiny costs associated with regular and preventative maintainence. I know they're more important to me!
It's actually been rigorously shown to work the same way with medicine. There was a study on HSA / High Deductable plans already in use, and it found that use of preventative care actually increased compared to the baseline.
http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2009/08...