Medical Insurance and Jumping

[pilotsR4pimps 0]

I just got approved for medical insurance after getting out of the Navy for 5 years and was stoked. Until I found out they put a rider on it for skydiving. That was the whole reason for wanting medical insurance. What does everyone else do? I am kind of bummed. Except I canceled it and got like like $600 back. Your thoughts?

[jsreznor 0]

Don't tell them and don't get hurt skydiving.
Or if you do get hurt, get someone to hit you with a car and then call 911.

[TheCaptain 2]

Since finding out it is possible for health insurance to exclude a skydiving related accident, I always ask up front if they cover it. I always get health insurance through my work but it has come up on every possible job subsquent to starting skydiving as an issue I would need the answer to before accepting a job.

Kirk
He's dead Jim

[TheCaptain 2]

Unless I am mistaken, George W. Bush past a bill stating a person can not be excluded from getting medical coverage if the participate in dangerous past time, however they can be denied coverage as it applied to an injury substained while participating in that dangerous past time.

Kirk
He's dead Jim

[councilman24 36]

Which does us little or no good.

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[TheCaptain 2]

Your right!!
That is why I ask my provider up front if they exclude coverage as it applies to a skydiving accident. Also the only time I did have to go to the hospital I lied and said I fell off of my roof, but I realize if I had to get an ambulance ride from the DZ I would not have that option and that is why I find out the answer first.

Kirk
He's dead Jim

[pilotsR4pimps 0]

i dont know. It's bullshit. Bunch of greedy bastards. Even if i dont tell them I jump and got hurt jumping the hospital still has to notify the insurance and I am screwed either way.

[TheCaptain 2]

I would suggest cancelling your current policy and get insurance that would cover a skydiving accident

Kirk
He's dead Jim

[pilotsR4pimps 0]

i did cancel it and got $600 back. I'll be looking again

[SEREJumper 1]

If you are in the Active/Guard/ Reserve Army or Airforce or Honorably Discharged veterans (any service) residing in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, check out The Army and Air Force Mutual Aid Association

http://www.aafmaa.com/

Cheapest I have found and skydiving is no problem.

We're not fucking flying airplanes are we, no we're flying a glorified kite with no power and it should be flown like one! - Stratostar

[pirana 0]

Never heard of the law you mention being signed by Bush. Since most health plan regulation is at the state level, my guess is that it is not true - not to mention your experience indicates that also.

Move to a different state. Where do you live that they are allowed to exclude stuff like skydiving from a health policy? It would definitewly go against the grain in any state with a progressive approach towards making coverage available.

As an aside, especially for base jumpers; be aware that most health policies exclude coverage for injurues incurred during the commission of a crime. So if you fall off a tower while trespassing; do what someone mentioned earlier in the thread. Ditch the skydiving gear and have someone give you a relatively gentle thumping with their car. No wait; then auto subrogation kicks in.

Damn.

" . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

[kmills0705 0]

I just posted about a tib/fib/ankle fracture and recovery time in another post. Right before I did that a guy at our dz had broke his ankle and was in the midst of insurance battle.

First thing I asked those who landed with me (off dz landing) was to take all my gear off (while my ankle was kind of dangling there) and get it out of there.

To this day my story was I was jogging along side this road... I tripped and fell down a ditch and that is how I received my injuries.

That's my story and I am sticking to it! (It was back in 97)!

Kim Mills
USPA D21696
Tandem I, AFF I and Static Line I

[likestojump 3]

I claimed drunken accident falling off a tailgate of a pickup for ankle injury. I know of a friend who claimed skateboarding accident for an ankle injury. Falling from a tree for elbow injury. Tripping over a dog for a knee injury.

I am sure the list can be quite long :)

[jtnesbitt 0]

Every dropzone needs a pickup truck and an old battered byicycle. If I ever break aother bone skydiving (besides a finger) i fully expect to be stripped of gear, tossed on the side of a road out the back off the pickup and have the bike thrown on top of me

"If this post needs to be moderated I would prefer it to be completly removed and not edited and butchered into a disney movie" - DorkZone Hero

[TheCaptain 2]

Quote

Never heard of the law you mention being signed by Bush. Since most health plan regulation is at the state level, my guess is that it is not true - not to mention your experience indicates that also.

Move to a different state. Where do you live that they are allowed to exclude stuff like skydiving from a health policy? It would definitewly go against the grain in any state with a progressive approach towards making coverage available.

As an aside, especially for base jumpers; be aware that most health policies exclude coverage for injurues incurred during the commission of a crime. So if you fall off a tower while trespassing; do what someone mentioned earlier in the thread. Ditch the skydiving gear and have someone give you a relatively gentle thumping with their car. No wait; then auto subrogation kicks in.

Damn.

This information came to light on this website or at least it did to me and after just a quick search I found this article

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/safety/detail_page.cgi?ID=394

But then again, what the hell do I know because if you have not heard of it then it could not possibly be true
Oh yeah, I was slightly wrong as it was Bill Clinton's administration not George W.'s

Kirk
He's dead Jim

[fasted3 0]

This thread comes at a good time, as people lose their jobs and health insurance. Some will continue jumping, and that brings up the question of what happens if they get hurt. Free care is available, but the quality varies widely from state to state. What are the best and worst states to get hurt in?

But what do I know?

[wmw999 2,120]

This thread got me thinking; there's a poll up in Bonfire:

here

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[LaRusic 0]

Im really kind of surprised that the skydiving community doesnt have something like the Divers Alert Network in the scuba world. The short of it is, an insurance policy specifically for that sport.

Anyone up for opening a new business

The Altitude above you, the runway behind you, and the fuel not in the plane are totally worthless
Dudeist Skydiver # 10

[Unstable 8]

Quote

Im really kind of surprised that the skydiving community doesnt have something like the Divers Alert Network in the scuba world. The short of it is, an insurance policy specifically for that sport.

Good call - I'm almost 100% sure that the actuaries don't have reliable information on skydiving - I'd bet they just see the occasional $100,000+ accident hit the radar and they think "hmm, how can I not pay that..."

Has anyone contacted USPA about this? I'm going to call my regional director and see...

=========Shaun ==========

[jsreznor 0]

except you just admitted it.
you always have to watch out for trolling insurance agents.
those guys are sneaky!

[pilotsR4pimps 0]

hell yeah. I am down. DAN is pretty good and there are a lot more scuba divers in the world than skydivers. I used to use DAN. I wonder if starting a skydiving insurance business would work.

[pilotsR4pimps 0]

and i am doing the FBJC with APEX this May. Man, this is gonna be tough. Maybe I'll move to Canada. Or Cuba. Or France or England

[DontPanic 0]

For what it's worth, my Blue Cross/Blue Shield didn't have any rider's for skydiving (I looked it over pretty closely, but I'm curious if anybody else has seen one in their BC/BS).

At about $170/month, I didn't think it was too expensive, either.

[NWFlyer 2]

Quote

there are a lot more scuba divers in the world than skydivers.

I think, right there, is why getting something similar going in skydiving is probably a non-starter. Insurance is based on pooling risk - the population of skydivers is probably too small to make sense.

"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

[pilotsR4pimps 0]

BC/BS denied me. Wasn't for jumping though. It was from some past headaches that are not a problem at all anymore, which Navy medical lost all the results for. So they think my head is filled with tumors or something. It's bullshit. I am a completely healthy, physically fit, dont smoke or drink, 24 year old and still get declined. Something a little backwards.