Government deregulates long-distance transportation: reduces requirements on passenger insurance

[carride]

Freedom to choose to drive a car for long distance vacations with your own insurance, or the bus who has no longer needs to insure you.

Gobierno desregula el transporte de larga distancia: reduce exigencias sobre seguros de pasajeros

En el marco del proceso de desregulación de la economía que lidera Federico Sturzenegger, se eliminó el seguro obligatorio de Responsabilidad Civil para pasajeros. La medida deja a los usuarios en una situación más vulnerable en caso de accidentes.

www-ambito-com.translate.goog

• Mandatory Insurance : the repeal implies that transport companies will no longer be required to take out additional insurance to cover the risks of death and disability of passengers.

 

[elhombresinnombre]

Freedom to choose to drive a car for long distance vacations with your own insurance, or the bus who has no longer needs to insure you.

Gobierno desregula el transporte de larga distancia: reduce exigencias sobre seguros de pasajeros

En el marco del proceso de desregulación de la economía que lidera Federico Sturzenegger, se eliminó el seguro obligatorio de Responsabilidad Civil para pasajeros. La medida deja a los usuarios en una situación más vulnerable en caso de accidentes.

www-ambito-com.translate.goog

• Mandatory Insurance : the repeal implies that transport companies will no longer be required to take out additional insurance to cover the risks of death and disability of passengers.

Interesting. I wonder what the long game is? Or even if there is a long game? To get the more risk-averse bus passengers onto Aerolineas?
To boost the incomes of coffin-chasing lawyers? Because to be sure, after the next big bus fatality, they will be coming out in droves.

The other article, further down the page, about bus subsidies in CABA and across the boundaries with Provincia makes interesting reading. I still doubt whether, even with the fares suggested there, that the service could break even. All major countries charge far bigger bus fares and still subsidise transport because it makes social and economic sense. As I've said before, I don't believe the real solution in Argentina is to keep fares so low that even the precariat can afford them but instead to make a decent effort to lift the poor out of poverty.

 

[LuckyLuke]

Freedom to choose to drive a car for long distance vacations with your own insurance, or the bus who has no longer needs to insure you.

Gobierno desregula el transporte de larga distancia: reduce exigencias sobre seguros de pasajeros

En el marco del proceso de desregulación de la economía que lidera Federico Sturzenegger, se eliminó el seguro obligatorio de Responsabilidad Civil para pasajeros. La medida deja a los usuarios en una situación más vulnerable en caso de accidentes.

www-ambito-com.translate.goog

• Mandatory Insurance : the repeal implies that transport companies will no longer be required to take out additional insurance to cover the risks of death and disability of passengers.

Your own car insurance can cover uninsured motorists or not. You can also choose your liability limits. The point of deregulation is to provide the market with choice. Deregulation also removes the hurdles that prevent new businesses from competing. By making the market entry cost punitive, only big players can afford to play. Perhaps a premium bus service will offer higher liability insurance for a higher rate. People can choose to ride on an higher insured bus or not.

 

[FrankPintor]

The cost of the additional insurance for disability or death should be stated on the bus ticket, it started at 250 Pesos in 2022, and is probably 2-3 times that now. Hardly a hurdle to prevent new businesses from entering the market.

It's just more narrow-minded ideology from the government, and looking for trouble, since at some point there will be a major bus accident and uninsured dead and maimed passengers. The fallout will come back to the government for not regulating the industry.

@LuckyLuke, how does it work in other places? Like Chile, for example, which has a competitive long distance bus market.

 

[LuckyLuke]

The cost of the additional insurance for disability or death should be stated on the bus ticket, it started at 250 Pesos in 2022, and is probably 2-3 times that now. Hardly a hurdle to prevent new businesses from entering the market.

It's just more narrow-minded ideology from the government, and looking for trouble, since at some point there will be a major bus accident and uninsured dead and maimed passengers. The fallout will come back to the government for not regulating the industry.

@LuckyLuke, how does it work in other places? Like Chile, for example, which has a competitive long distance bus market.

Mandating insurance is a very slippery slope. Obamacare for example was incredibly contentious. Many sick low income earning patients that were essentially uninsurable were now a heavy burden on insurance companies. Moreover many cheaper, deemed "junk plans" that only covered serious injuries were removed from the marketplace. The result...many were forced to buy expensive plans subsidizing sick patients or face an obligatory penalty. Many at the time found it was cheaper to pay a penalty. This was at face value, the capitalist version of socialized healthcare. They eventually had to drop the mandatory penalty.

I don't think every reputable bus charter company, well aware they can be sued out of existence by one accident, will jump at the chance to uninsure their passengers but time will tell...

You're not wrong, I could easily see the next administration reinstating this regulation after some tragedy. An ideal solution would be to allow passengers to choose a bundled coverage as part of their ticket purchase. Like how airlines offer to bundle travel insurance when you purchase a ticket.

 

[FrankPintor]

Mandating insurance is a very slippery slope. Obamacare for example was incredibly contentious. Many sick low income earning patients that were essentially uninsurable were now a heavy burden on insurance companies. Moreover many cheaper, deemed "junk plans" that only covered serious injuries were removed from the marketplace. The result...many were forced to buy expensive plans subsidizing sick patients or face an obligatory penalty. Many at the time found it was cheaper to pay a penalty. This was at face value, the capitalist version of socialized healthcare. They eventually had to drop the mandatory penalty.

I don't think every reputable bus charter company, well aware they can be sued out of existence by one accident, will jump at the chance to uninsure their passengers but time will tell...

You're not wrong, I could easily see the next administration reinstating this regulation after some tragedy. An ideal solution would be to allow passengers to choose a bundled coverage as part of their ticket purchase. Like how airlines offer to bundle travel insurance when you purchase a ticket.

Insurance has been contentious since Roman times, I think. The young, fit, strong and the lucky (no pun intended) believe they don't need it, and we have a bunch of them turning up on the forum here. Myself, and I believe @SinPulgas can say that "shit happenz", as one insurance company has it.

Reputable operators are probably not the main worry, more likely cowboy operators, who will be emboldened by the reduced regulation.

I can imagine that offering passengers the possibility of buying extended insurance coverage causes more administrative overhead than just including the damn USD 50c in the ticket. I suspect a triumph of ideology over common sense. Does anyone know what motivated the previous administration to mandate this?

 

[FrankPintor]

Would anyone have recommendations for traveling from CABA to Asuncion by bus? I was checking NSA out, but they don't have a sleeper service. Is there anything more comfortable?

 

[elhombresinnombre]

Would anyone have recommendations for traveling from CABA to Asuncion by bus? I was checking NSA out, but they don't have a sleeper service. Is there anything more comfortable?

Disclaimer: 1- it's a while since I was a fairly regular visitor to Paraguay and 2- I usually went via Encarnación because my business wasn't in the capital.. NSA was solid and dependable but nothing very luxurious while my goto company for traveling around Argentina has always been Andesmar. They are nice, comfortable and very professional but I don't think they actually cross the border and you'd need to book a combinación with them. Sorry: that's not much help really is it?

 

[FrankPintor]

Disclaimer: 1- it's a while since I was a fairly regular visitor to Paraguay and 2- I usually went via Encarnación because my business wasn't in the capital.. NSA was solid and dependable but nothing very luxurious while my goto company for traveling around Argentina has always been Andesmar. They are nice, comfortable and very professional but I don't think they actually cross the border and you'd need to book a combinación with them. Sorry: that's not much help really is it?

You're right, Andesmar only make it as far as Clorinda or Iguazu. I'll have to keep looking. Thanks anyway.