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mikeras67

Skydiving and health insurance

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I'm self employed and need to apply for new health insurance.

So yeah there is that question "Do you do risky activities like skydiving?"

I can always say no and if there is an accident deny I did it before the accident, but I'd rather say yes.

But if I say yes, what happens? Increased premiums? Or do they exclude skydiving from my coverage (which would be bad, increased premiums also suck...)

I'm wondering if anyone here has answered yes to that question and what happened to their insurance as a result...

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Possibly:
- Exclusion in policy for injuries from skydiving.
- "Rating" - i.e. a surcharge on the premium.
- Rejection - i.e. they don't want your business.
"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

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Possibly:
- Exclusion in policy for injuries from skydiving.
- "Rating" - i.e. a surcharge on the premium.
- Rejection - i.e. they don't want your business.



Yep. What he said. You really want to read the fine print on an insurance policy before you buy it, because it's more likely that you won't even be asked about things like skydiving. Depending on where you live, any pre-screening questions are more likely to focus on your medical status so they can predict how much you're likely to cost them. So they're trying to uncover if you have a chronic condition, or are at risk for things like heart disease, etc.

However, that doesn't necessarily mean they don't care if you skydive - it's quite possible that skydiving will be in that long list of exclusions in the fine print. Read it and know for sure before you decide whether you want to buy that insurance.

And let's say you do decide to buy insurance that excludes skydiving. You're then either 1) on the hook for all your medical costs associated with skydiving, or 2) committing insurance fraud by saying you broke your ankle falling off a ladder.

And good luck trying to figure out how to commit insurance fraud when the chopper picks you up off of the landing area and takes you to the nearest trauma center. At that point, you're not only beyond having lying as an option, you're also on the hook for some monstrously expensive bills.

Read the fine print. And read it again.
"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

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I'm self employed and need to apply for new health insurance.
So yeah there is that question "Do you do risky activities like skydiving?"
I can always say no and if there is an accident deny I did it before the accident, but I'd rather say yes.
But if I say yes, what happens? Increased premiums? Or do they exclude skydiving from my coverage (which would be bad, increased premiums also suck...)
I'm wondering if anyone here has answered yes to that question and what happened to their insurance as a result...

My personal opinion is it is better to be honest. You will know then for sure if a skydiving injury will be covered but at higher premium or if you will be excluded. If not honest you could lie about a skydiving injury but a certain percentage of injuries will be investigated. Heck an insurance agent could probably find you on dz.com. Know the facts and be honest

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Be honest, or it will bite you in the ass, possibly quite hard. Find a policy that does not exclude skydiving.

BTW, if you're currently employed, also consider disability insurance that defrays some loss of income if an injury puts you out of work for a while. (AFLAC is but one example of that.) Health insurance usually does not cover this.

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From what I have read on some policies, skydiving may be covered, but working as part of an aircraft crew may not be, and I am pretty sure that includes working as a coach, instructor, videographer, etc. I have always been honest and thrown most offers away. I am presently covered by Optima and my policy covers skydiving accidents. In the long run, I would think that auto and home accidents exceed skydiving accidents just about anywhere.

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I broke my ankle as a student, I didn't lie just told them stepped out of an airplane and twisted my ankle. No one asked if the airplane was more than a mile in the air at the time.

My medical insurance is through my employer. I broke my leg on a landing and told the truth. Had to go to 2 hospitals and had surgery. All bills were covered at the normal rate. The only thing they did do was send me a questionaire asking for details. The last question asked if another party was responsible for my bills. I left everything blank except the last question. I said I am not suing anyone and this was an accident and no one else is responsible. Never heard anything else about it. It is also better medically to be truthful because treatment may be different for a jumper as opposed to a non jumper. Life insurance is a different matter. I prepaid my funeral years ago and you are basically applying for life insurance and naming the funeral home as beneficiary. The funeral director asked if I skydived and I said no which was true at the time since I started skydiving a year later. The policy is now paid off so I guess as long as I don't die skydiving it will be paid. But I still didn't lie at the time and would have told the truth if I was skydiving when making arrangements.

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Does anyone have any suggestions for a good skydive friendly insurance company or straight liability insurance? Just starting my research on this and any recommendations for companies to look into is appreciated. Higher rates is expected, its just frustrating reading through so many companies fine print for exclusions and ways they're going to screw you in the end... Thanks! :)

-Nate

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If you can, marry someone with good health insurance and get on their plan... the group plans generally don't have exclusions for things like skydiving :)
Our story... Look at the Keystone Skydiving Incident. That is my husband. Completely out of the blue incident, he did everything right and still got injured very badly. Bills will probably hit 1/2 million, if not more. Life flight, two ambulance rides, almost two weeks in ICU, now several more weeks in a rehab hospital, two very major surgeries.. All because of a fluke thermal event that he could neither see nor prevent.

If we didn't have good health insurance, we would lose everything. As it is, the finances will hurt, but a lot of friends have been sending donations to help us cover the medical bills and time out of work. We will make a full recovery, both medically and financially.

I say 'we' because I was in the ER after blowing out my knee (torn ACL, demolished meniscus, partial tear of MCL) when I got the call that Chad was injured. What dumb luck. I just caught my heel funny on a tuft of grass. nearly 1200 jumps and a damn tuft of grass combined with natural clumsiness combined for my first significant injury. Fortunately, I'm covered on his really good insurance, so my surgery, rehab, etc is also covered. Hence my 'marry someone' comment :)


Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

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That is some terrible luck ;/ Glad to hear you guys will make a full recovery! Is it inappropriate to ask for insurance policy info on the first date? Think that may have just taken #1 priority spot over brains and looks... I'm actually getting married in July and she got me the AFF camp at Jumptown as an early wedding gift last Saturday (cant run if I'm falling??). Waiting for them to send the legal information and I had some doubts on them covering jumping out of planes but hopefully works out :)

Get well soon!
-Nate

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Does anyone have any suggestions for a good skydive friendly insurance company or straight liability insurance? Just starting my research on this and any recommendations for companies to look into is appreciated. Higher rates is expected, its just frustrating reading through so many companies fine print for exclusions and ways they're going to screw you in the end... Thanks! :)

-Nate



I'm not sure what general liability insurance would do to help you in a skydiving accident. A USPA membership comes with $50,000 of third-party liability insurance, so if (for example) you land badly on someone's parked car and cause damage to it, that policy will pay out for the damage that you did to the car.

It won't help pay for the damage to you at all. That's where health insurance comes in. As peregrinerose has said, health insurance through an employer is (in the U.S., anyway) the most likely option to not have exclusions. Some individual plans are probably okay, too - you just need to read the fine print. My SO had skydiving-related surgery when he was covered by an individual plan and it was covered for the most part (the only things that weren't covered wouldn't have been covered anyway as part of the terms of the policy, regardless of how he hurt himself).

Insurers are always going to be looking for other insurance companies who may be on the hook for the cost of care - that's just something they do, and in many cases, it's appropriate. If someone comes in with an injury and they don't ask about it how the injury occurred, they may miss a worker's compensation claim (as one example). Or if they don't know that the injury happened as part of an auto accident, they may miss the fact that he auto insurer should be on the hook, not the health insurer. So they're always keeping an eye out. But those questions, in and of themselves, won't exclude skydiving injuries - what's in the policy will tell you whether they can exclude skydiving injuries.
"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

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Be honest, or it will bite you in the ass, possibly quite hard. Find a policy that does not exclude skydiving.

BTW, if you're currently employed, also consider disability insurance that defrays some loss of income if an injury puts you out of work for a while. (AFLAC is but one example of that.) Health insurance usually does not cover this.



AFLAC and Colonial both exclude skydiving just FYI. I have Colonial.
Kevin

Muff Brother #4041
Team Dirty Sanchez #467

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I broke my ankle as a student, I didn't lie just told them stepped out of an airplane and twisted my ankle. No one asked if the airplane was more than a mile in the air at the time.



That's awesome.

Just tell them "I broke my femur getting out of a plane"
The feather butts bounce off ya like raindrops hitting a battle-star when they come in too fast...kinda funny to watch. - airtwardo

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I broke my ankle as a student, I didn't lie just told them stepped out of an airplane and twisted my ankle. No one asked if the airplane was more than a mile in the air at the time.



Well done. I'm just not a very good liar. I'm especially not good when I have to keep a story straight through lots of different conversations. Having been in an accident (non-skydive related) that involved three different insurance companies, it's confusing enough to keep it all straight when you're telling the truth. Adding deception on top of that just seems overly complicated.

I've had to seek medical care a couple times for skydiving related injuries. None more than few thousand dollars worth of care, but still something I'd much rather have insurance pay for than have to pay for myself. It was nice to not have to lie, and instead be able to have a candid conversation with my doctor and physical therapist about the way I got injured, and what I was trying to rehab my way back to. :)
"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

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I broke my ankle as a student, I didn't lie just told them stepped out of an airplane and twisted my ankle. No one asked if the airplane was more than a mile in the air at the time.



That's awesome.

Just tell them "I broke my femur getting out of a plane"



THat doesn't work so well when the paramedics are cutting you out of your jumpsuit and harness.

Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

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Not a good liar here either. If I had insurance that had a non-skydiving clause I just wouldn't jump. Though I feel bad about injured people and people who have died in the sport I choose to not give when asked for money because they didnt have insurance. The only time I did give was to the family of a woman who died in a tandem incident. We all know the risks that go with skydiving and there are people that could afford insurance but wont buy it because it means less jumping. Sometimes I think the USPA should require proof of medical insurance that covers skydiving injuries before license is issued.

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Not a good liar here either. If I had insurance that had a non-skydiving clause I just wouldn't jump. Though I feel bad about injured people and people who have died in the sport I choose to not give when asked for money because they didnt have insurance. The only time I did give was to the family of a woman who died in a tandem incident. We all know the risks that go with skydiving and there are people that could afford insurance but wont buy it because it means less jumping. Sometimes I think the USPA should require proof of medical insurance that covers skydiving injuries before license is issued.



I agree. Although even with insurance, and darn good insurance, we are going to be nailed with expenses. Copays, coinsurances, unsure if the medical chopper is covered or not, all of the tools he will need during his rehab at home (possible hospital bed, ramps, etc). Plus the time out of work for me. I won't be out long enough to qualify for disability (starts at a month), but it's still going to sting.

Injuries are very expensive. I'm fortunate to have great insurance and friends who are chipping in to help with the extra expenses of time off, pet sitting while I'm with him in Phila (3.5 hour drive each way), expenses of staying out of town with him on weekends, etc. I agree that insurance is absolutely a must with skydiving. I also would not jump without it.

Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

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OK admittedly I'm taking this thread in a different direction. We as the patient think we have complete coverage. What many people don't realize are the contracrual write offs the medical providers take from the insurance companies. We think on a particular claim they are being paid thousands when in reality it might be a couple hundred if that. I had the most phenominal Dr ever. Young and patient would listen. Guess due to the low insurance payments and high malpractice insurance he said screw it and stopped praticing completely and became hospital administrator. I can't blame him but now I'm stuck with a real dork Dr.

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Find a new Doc. They're everywhere (just look at the Yellow Pages). I find it funny that people will put up with a doctor they don't like. They are your employee.

I know Lisa. You are my friend and I am in a town of about 40,000 which sounds like a lot but it's in the middle of nowhere and the other closest town is about 45 miles away and much smaller. It takes about 6 months just to get the hi how you doing meeting with another Dr. here. I guess you could say well move to another place but I just feel stuck here. We actually had some phenomal Drs. but most of them last a year at most. My dad had a wonderful oncologist who was actually on a weekly visiting basis from a big city. In all honestly the vets here are more compassionate than the Drs. and you know I'm having the issues with my pet now but the guy is wonderful. BTW it is harder to get into vet med school than regular medical school. If you think about it makes sense. Animals can't tell you what they are feeling and vets dealing with different anatomies. They arent compensated as greatly so for sure most of them doing it for the love of it even though they have to demostrate more smarts than regular Dr.

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