Health Insurance?

[Superman32 0]

After speaking incessantly, about my unfortunately too few skydives, a temp at my company has decided that he too needs to jump. Slight problem, Like millions of other citizen of the biggest, baddest and richest industrialized country in the world, he does not have heath insurance.
He obviously understands the potential danger, but I think that he has made up his mind.
Should I encourage him to go on and join our sickness or discourage him until he's able to afford insurance.

Inveniam Viam aut Faciam
I'm back biatches!

[marks 0]

life is too short, to worry about money. especially if it is about money you dont need because something that hasnt happened yet, and it is going to prevent you from LIVING.

it is kinda like saying. "i wont jump without a cypress"

if it bothers him, then dont force him. but i really feel sorry for somone that will let meney stand in the way of somthing they want to do.

[CanuckInUSA 0]

Yesterday morning I abstained from a risker BASE jump to make a more familar BASE jump and one of the big motivating factors was because I am currently without health insurance. But afterwards I witnessed some friends make this riskier jump, and later in the afternoon I went up and made it. Jumping without health insurance is a risk that some may choose to take or some won't. The thought of fucking up and getting hurt isn't appealling. But it also helped to make myself more aware of what I was getting into and thankfully this riskier 300 foot cliff BASE jump went well and everyone walked away with new stories to tell. Life is a risk. Choose life!!!

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[KrisFlyZ 0]

Ask your friend not to jump until he has somekind of insurance.

I have health insurance, I purchased additional short term insurance(that specifically covers skydiving) for this month because I will be making a bunch of jumps at Eloy and I am travelling.

Kris.

[dropzonefool 0]

blue cross blue shield insurance

[EDYDO 0]

Anyone know where accident insurance can be bought that does not exclude skydiving injuries?

A year of health insurance is now $10,000 with $5,000 deductible, for me and I have not used it over many years. Sure would like to dump that if I had accident coverage. I'll be on medicare in a couple of years. Think of how many jumps I could make with the extra bucks.

Ed

[flyangel2 2]

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Anyone know where accident insurance can be bought that does not exclude skydiving injuries?

I have Mutual of Omaha for my accident insurance.


For those that are jumping without any kind of insurance, IMO, it's very irresponsible. Do you drive without insurance? Do those of us that are home owners not have home owners insurance?

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey

[tdog 0]

Food for thought... My good self-employed friend has gone without health insurance for his whole adult life. He is 28 years old, and in good health. He then purchased insurance, but the one with the low premium and high deductibles designed for catastrophic events. He basically has to self-insure all normal routine stuff.

We went on some real technical mountain biking up at Aspen. We pushed our limits. There was more than one section where there was absolutely no stopping – brakes were useless on the gravel, and my ass was behind the rear tire praying my CG would not move forward, and we were trucking…

We stopped in the woods for rest. He started moving again and lost his grip on the flattest part of our trip. It might as well have been a road. He was not even moving. His knee landed on a sharp rock. Clean cut – as if a knife did it.

The point – it was the easy stuff that got him, not when he expected it…

We rode down to the EMT who said, "I have never seen a patella before."

Long story short – he lost 1/3 of his blood, and he had to have his knee cleaned with a scope and stay overnight at the hospital. Specialists were called in on a Sunday.

$65,000 bill Kaiser negotiated to $45,000 for which his 20% was $9,000. And, I did not even charge him for the “ambulance ride” I gave him in my 4-runner. Imagine if the onsite EMT called a helicopter or ambulance to the middle of the mountain.

I don’t think I would do many activities, like rollerblading, snowboarding or (insert sport name here) without health insurance… The hospitals know how to collect money, and doctors DO ask, “Is this a self pay?”

If you can't get the Cadillac of insurance, get the type that has a high deductible. Having an insurance company negotiate on your behalf is great, and at least you know the hospital will get paid a lot, so they are less likely to come after your assets when you tell them you need a while to pay back your share.

That is just my experience and opinion.

[white_falcon 0]

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Anyone know where accident insurance can be bought that does not exclude skydiving injuries?

I have Mutual of Omaha for my accident insurance.


For those that are jumping without any kind of insurance, IMO, it's very irresponsible. Do you drive without insurance? Do those of us that are home owners not have home owners insurance?

LMAO!!! I am an insurance agent in Florida, have been or 15 years or so, and you would be AMAZED at the people that DONT have auto or home insurance.

It happens every day / year, tag is up for renewal and they come in for insurance, haven't ahd any auto coverage for the last, oh, 10 months. Or, bout every June, or when the first storm of the year gets named, I cant return all the calls for Homeowners insurance quotes. Then come Nov, guess what? Those HO policies start cancelling.

People are the most IRRESPONSIBLE beings I know, in a lot of ways. But, thats just MY take on the situation.


Scott

[NWFlyer 2]

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It happens every day / year, tag is up for renewal and they come in for insurance, haven't ahd any auto coverage for the last, oh, 10 months. Or, bout every June, or when the first storm of the year gets named, I cant return all the calls for Homeowners insurance quotes. Then come Nov, guess what? Those HO policies start cancelling.

People are the most IRRESPONSIBLE beings I know, in a lot of ways. But, thats just MY take on the situation.


Scott

Amen to that! I can afford to and I choose to carry very high limits on my uninsured/underinsured motorists liability coverage on my auto insurance for just this reason. The State of Washington (for example) only requires $25,000 per person / $50,000 per accident liability coverage. And that's not counting the people who break the regs and go without auto insurance altogether. This foresight came in handy recently because the dumbass who hit me (while I was a pedestrian crossing in the crosswalk) had the state minimums. You know how quickly you can blow through $25K at a trauma center? I found out. Because I had the extra coverage, I was able to get all my bills paid with no problem and get a reasonable settlement for all the other damages (time lost from work, general damages, etc).

I know health insurance can be ridiculously expensive. Especially as you get older. I work in the industry, and I know it's incredibly flawed. But I'm a firm believer that if you can afford it (and most people can figure out a way to scrape together funds for a high-deductible plan) and you're don't have health insurance, you're playing with fire in an entirely preventible way. Even if you are young and healthy.

(then there's the larger policy issue that everyone who goes without health insurance, needs tons of care and doesn't pay their bills makes the cost of care and insurance go up for everyone else... but I won't get started on that!).

All that said, what your colleague chooses to do is not your business. He's already running a huge risk by going without health insurance. Adding skydiving to the mix probably isn't going to materially change that level of risk. He'll make up his own mind; you're probably better off staying out of it altogether.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[skybytch 273]

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But I'm a firm believer that if you can afford it (and most people can figure out a way to scrape together funds for a high-deductible plan) and you're don't have health insurance, you're playing with fire in an entirely preventible way. Even if you are young and healthy

I work in the skydiving industry. At one point my employers provided health insurance - that was a good thing when I ended up needing $20k+ worth of back surgery a few years ago. Unfortunately they could no longer afford to provide that benefit when the premiums went sky high. I can't afford health insurance on my own. So today I'm one of those irresponsible people who jump without benefit of medical insurance.

Maybe someday I'll get a real job (i.e. not skydiving related) or win the lottery, at which point I'll be able to afford insurance (and maybe even be able to afford more than a couple jumps a month!).

Until then I'll continue to be irresponsible, my head stuck firmly in the sand, hoping that I don't get hurt or sick.

[Casurf1978 0]

I agree with you 110%. A visit to the ER, ICU have a few surgeans look you over can max out an Amex Black card. I had simple type 1 fracture on my arm and it ran around 2K, after all the doc visits, ER and stuff. Not only that but I think someone brought up a good point (previous post) that when you're unisured and admitted to a hospital you might have to sign a waiver stating that the hospital can sue on your behalf. I wouldnt sue the DZ, but you can see where this is going. I dont know if this is true, but I wouldnt put it past them. I know here in Cali we have a Hospital Lien Act.

[Hooknswoop 19]

There are a lot of full-time skydiving Instructors out there w/o health insurance. DZO's don't provide, especially since they are only indepedant contractors. When you jump for a living, you have to set aside money for bad weather, etc. If you pay for insurance instead, then if you get hurt, the insurance pays most of your bills, but you can't work and w/o any savings, you are screwed. When I was jumping full time, I saved money and didn't have health insurance. If I had gotten hurt, I would have been screwed, and I was betting that I wouldn't get hurt. Until Instructors are employess and paid well and given benefits, most full-time Instructors will continue to not have health insurance.

Anyone ever read 'The Jungle'? As long as there are more Instructors than DZO's need (and USPA helped keep it this way when they lowered the standards to be an AFFI), then the situation isn't going to change.

Derek

[DrewEckhardt 0]

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Like millions of other citizen of the biggest, baddest and richest industrialized country in the world, he does not have heath insurance.
He obviously understands the potential danger, but I think that he has made up his mind.
Should I encourage him to go on and join our sickness or discourage him until he's able to afford insurance.

Blue Cross/Blue shield for guys under 30 was ~$80 a month with a large deductable (the idea being that a few thousand dollars is an inconvienance, although $50 - $100K could loose your house, retirement savings, etc.) the last time I checked.

If you can't afford that you can't afford to stay current when skydiving.

With no assets financial protection is less of an argument. There you might want to be able to choose sports doctors where the goal is to have you active, running, jumping, etc. instead of just walking.

[mailin 0]

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If you can't afford that you can't afford to stay current when skydiving.

Don't jump to conclusions.

That differs from one BC&BS company to the next. In RI BC&BS costs $220/month for a $2000 deductible.

Lots of people don't have that.


Jen

Arianna Frances

[Superman32 0]

I told the kid that he really should wait until he had some insurance. I didn't even know that there was accident only insurance. I'm sure that this will definitely make him happy.
My company is relocating, sometime next year, and I will not be going with it. I think I'll be looking at this accident only for myself

Inveniam Viam aut Faciam
I'm back biatches!

[kelpdiver 2]

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That differs from one BC&BS company to the next. In RI BC&BS costs $220/month for a $2000 deductible.

Is there something wrong with Rhode Island? Even in expensive California/San Francisco, that $80 figure is correct. Actually, it was $58. Now that I'm 32 and a couple increases came along, it's $92.

At under 100, skydiving has got to take a backseat to insurance. The risk is just too steep when a mere examination at the ER costs thousands. And if you ignore minor aches because of the cost and they turn into something severe, the price could be your life.

take care, everyone.

[mailin 0]

It's not just RI - its the entire Northeast.

We have much higher health care costs than many other areas of the country.

There are other options besides BCBS here though - not much cheaper, only slightly.


Jen

Arianna Frances

[skybytch 273]

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At under 100, skydiving has got to take a backseat to insurance.

Nope. Skydiving takes a back seat to nothing.

I've given up lots of stuff to skydive. I refuse to give up skydiving so I can support an insurance company's bottom line.

[grlsgotalot2lrn 0]

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at which point I'll be able to afford insurance (and maybe even be able to afford more than a couple jumps a month!).

baawaahaaaa!

***$20 a jump adds up when you're doing 5-10 a weekend. ***

Is it a couple jumps a month or 5-10 a weekend?Gotcha!

[CanuckInUSA 0]

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Nope. Skydiving takes a back seat to nothing.

Good stuff Lisa. Life is a risk, but way to live life.

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I refuse to give up skydiving so I can support an insurance company's bottom line.

Insurance companies are sharks. They don't give a shit about you or me. All they care about is how much $$$ they can get from us.

Recently I lost my job and lost my healthcare coverage (and I am not eligible for unemployment). I have the option of continuing my Cobra healthcare coverage with my own out of pocket expenses (about $280/month) and I most likely will bite the bullet and pay this. But I am waiting until at least next week to send in my paper work as I'm off to Canada this coming weekend to apply for yet another work visa for a job offer which I have received and will start in January if all goes as planned (I'll have to work more and post less if I get the visa and the job). But I can totally understand why some people choose not to pay for their own healthcare coverage. Shit $280/month is a lot of $$$ and it's easy to say fuck it if you don't have very many assets that they can go after. But for those with assets (unfortunately I fall into this category), I think living without healthcare coverage is more risky than the BASE jumps I was doing last weekend out in Moab. Just don't fuck up right?

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[kelpdiver 2]

Check individual policy rates before ponying up for Cobra. For young people with little history of problems, Cobra tends to be a really bad deal.

While it may feel good to think of the evil insurance companies plotting to take your money, it's not productive. You're paying some sum of money (for me it's about 1100/yr) so that if you have an accident or bad fortune (cancer), you're not stuck with the double whammy of not being able to work and being hit with a 5 figure medical bill.

Aside from appendicitus back in the early 90s I've rarely used coverage, so they're doing pretty well by me, but there's no way to predict that outcome.

[mailin 0]

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(about $280/month)

I wanna live where you guys live

When I left my job COBRA was going to cost me $960/month

You can barely even get private insurance for that much around here


Jen

Arianna Frances

[CanuckInUSA 0]

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When I left my job COBRA was going to cost me $960/month

That sucks. And here I thought I was getting a bad deal. Come to Colorado.

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[peregrinerose 0]

It hurts everyone when people spend a lot of cash on skydiving to the expense of health care. In the end, when someone gets seriously hurt, has no insurance, and racks up thousands in medical bills, the hospital/doc has to write it off and not get re-imbursed at all. As a result, they have to keep fees for everyone high. Insurance companies pay crap, but the hospital signs agreements that say they will accept crap in order to provide care to the general public. For example, my eye exams are about $100. I get $13 for the same exam from Access (PA welfare program). As a result of writing off large amounts of money and so many people who could probably make some form of health insurance work in their budget chosing not to, the cost of health care goes up for everyone.

It's a cycle that doesn't end. But realistically, if someone can afford to skydive, they can afford some type of insurance, even if it is very high deductable catastrophic insurance only, it is still some form of back up in case something happens. And not just skydiving. I went from perfectly healthy to having a brain tumor and seizure disorder basically overnight. My meds alone are $500 a month and MRIs about $1500 every 6 months. If I didn't fork out the cash for insurance, I'd be royally screwed.

Health problems aren't just from skydiving.

Jen

Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda