M
Mike Murray
Guest
The insurance that is needed to put on bike races is NOT medical insurance
to provide coverage for injuries sustained by competitors but liability
insurance to protect road use authorities, land owners, event organizers,
sponsors, officials, etc. against claims of negligence made by participants
or others who claim that they were injured by the event. Without liability
insurance it is generally impossible to get venue use. In order to purchase
liability insurance it is generally necessary to purchase a medical
insurance for participants. This is "trip and fall" insurance; the idea
being that if a person's medical losses are at least in part covered it is
less likely that they will make a liability claim. This idea has become
less valid as medical costs have risen and the number of people without
personal health insurance has gone up but insurance companies still require
it. Generally the medical and the liability coverage come from different
ultimate venders.
USA Cycling has gotten themselves in trouble by marketing the medical rider
on their liability insurance as a benefit to the membership. This has
increased the number of claims, probably decreased the number of people who
purchase their own health insurance and has dramatically increased the cost
of insurance for USA Cycling. Yes, you are correct that the medical
insurance USA Cycling has is "****" but it was never intended to be primary
coverage.
USAC has, in the past, offered group rate health insurance for the
membership. I do not know if they still do this. Insurance companies are a
bit suspect of this sort of thing due to the adverse selection issue.
Basically if you get a new diagnosis of an expensive disease you can become
a member of the group (USAC) simply by paying the membership fee. This is
somewhat different than, say, group health insurance offered through an
employer since becoming a member of the group requires more than just a
membership fee. Large enough groups can still get group rate plans because
the insurance companies figure that the size of the group will offset the
adverse selection issue. It also might be the case that there were few
takers for the USAC individual health plans. OBRA had this experience.
OBRA put together a reasonable price group rate health plan which was
offered to the membership but no one wanted to buy it. For some reason
people think that a few hundred dollars per month is too much to pay despite
the fact that even a minimal accident can run up VERY large medical bills.
I had a fall this year with a minor head injury (brief loss of memory and
confusion without loss of consciousness). This earned me an ambulance ride,
ED visit, CT scan etc. but I went home that night. The bill before the
doctor's fee portion was nearly $10,000. That one accident offset a lot of
monthly payments.
--
Mike Murray
<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Every rider should have to show proof of medical insurance before
> racing, and then we should scrap the USCF "****" insurance that the
> rest of us are forced to subsidize through our entry fees.
>
> I would not mind using the organization's size to offer "real" medical
> insurance coverage to those interested, but we should scrap what we
> have now.
>
to provide coverage for injuries sustained by competitors but liability
insurance to protect road use authorities, land owners, event organizers,
sponsors, officials, etc. against claims of negligence made by participants
or others who claim that they were injured by the event. Without liability
insurance it is generally impossible to get venue use. In order to purchase
liability insurance it is generally necessary to purchase a medical
insurance for participants. This is "trip and fall" insurance; the idea
being that if a person's medical losses are at least in part covered it is
less likely that they will make a liability claim. This idea has become
less valid as medical costs have risen and the number of people without
personal health insurance has gone up but insurance companies still require
it. Generally the medical and the liability coverage come from different
ultimate venders.
USA Cycling has gotten themselves in trouble by marketing the medical rider
on their liability insurance as a benefit to the membership. This has
increased the number of claims, probably decreased the number of people who
purchase their own health insurance and has dramatically increased the cost
of insurance for USA Cycling. Yes, you are correct that the medical
insurance USA Cycling has is "****" but it was never intended to be primary
coverage.
USAC has, in the past, offered group rate health insurance for the
membership. I do not know if they still do this. Insurance companies are a
bit suspect of this sort of thing due to the adverse selection issue.
Basically if you get a new diagnosis of an expensive disease you can become
a member of the group (USAC) simply by paying the membership fee. This is
somewhat different than, say, group health insurance offered through an
employer since becoming a member of the group requires more than just a
membership fee. Large enough groups can still get group rate plans because
the insurance companies figure that the size of the group will offset the
adverse selection issue. It also might be the case that there were few
takers for the USAC individual health plans. OBRA had this experience.
OBRA put together a reasonable price group rate health plan which was
offered to the membership but no one wanted to buy it. For some reason
people think that a few hundred dollars per month is too much to pay despite
the fact that even a minimal accident can run up VERY large medical bills.
I had a fall this year with a minor head injury (brief loss of memory and
confusion without loss of consciousness). This earned me an ambulance ride,
ED visit, CT scan etc. but I went home that night. The bill before the
doctor's fee portion was nearly $10,000. That one accident offset a lot of
monthly payments.
--
Mike Murray
<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Every rider should have to show proof of medical insurance before
> racing, and then we should scrap the USCF "****" insurance that the
> rest of us are forced to subsidize through our entry fees.
>
> I would not mind using the organization's size to offer "real" medical
> insurance coverage to those interested, but we should scrap what we
> have now.
>
