Thread: Maggot poll: How many of you ski without health insurance?

I've been toying with the idea of bringing the european ski insurance thing to the USofA. Really I'm wondering what number of mags don't have health insurance and would be interested in such a product.

In europe, u pay per day for heli rescue, hospital visits etc in the form of an insurance.

I think a LOT of people would be interested in a form of yearly insurance that wil cover ski related stuff like:

heli rescue
off-piste and out of bounds skiing etc
injuries like blown ACLs, broken femurs, concussions and general hospital visits due to on mountain accidents.

the insurance wouldn't cover general health like u want to go to the doctor for say strep throat or mono or some random STD u picked up from a cougar in tahoe .

Originally Posted by gamma

I've been toying with the idea of bringing the european ski insurance thing to the USofA. Really I'm wondering what number of mags don't have health insurance and would be interested in such a product.

In europe, u pay per day for heli rescue, hospital visits etc in the form of an insurance.

I think a LOT of people would be interested in a form of yearly insurance that wil cover ski related stuff like:

heli rescue
off-piste and out of bounds skiing etc
injuries like blown ACLs, broken femurs, concussions and general hospital visits due to on mountain accidents.

the insurance wouldn't cover general health like u want to go to the doctor for say strep throat or mono or some random STD u picked up from a cougar in tahoe .

I'd be interested, but knowing what I do know about health insurance I bet this would be out of my price range. The only way I could see the premium being reasonable is with a real high deductible and that kind of defeats the purpose for dirtbag skiers...

Where's the poll part?

I've always had health insurance, with a deductable of around 2000. It may seem high, but when I blew my ACL the total cost with rehab and surgery was around 12-13 g's. Thank god I had insurance.

we're not insured. can't afford it.

i think what gamma means is something like what the german and austrian alpine clubs offer: if you are a member you are automatically insured for accidents during "alpinistic activities". they do not differentiate between climbing, groomer skiing, touring or whatever (not included is "expedition mountaineering", an expedition is anything over 7000m and some other things you would make very sure you have good insurance before doing anyway). covers search and rescue stuff/ heli and treatment of the respective injury. membership in the DAV (german alpine club) or ÖAV (austrian) costs between 50 and 80 euro a year. i understand something similar exists in most other european countries with mountains.

a fishing liscence and reg. health insurance is treating me fine, and basically covers the above...

gamma, let me know next time you make it. sorry i didn't meet up with ya, but it was a bad weekend for me to meet up...

L. I think he might mean Carre Neige (which you can purchase on daily basis or for a year).

Still, the ones offered by ÖAV and DAV are better, as CN basicly covers rescues and such (though they might also offer some health-stuff).

Check out adventure advocates www.adventureadvocates.com if you can't afford full health insurance but wan't to cover yourself in case of an accident, large or small. I pay about 20 bucks a month and am insured to 25,000 per accident, with only a 100 dollar deductable. They do not discriminate based on activity, covers everything from climbing to paragliding to skiing. I went off a 70 foot cliff to rock last year on Cody Peak outside of JHMR and fractured a vertebrae. Total costs ended up being about 14,000, of which i paid 100 plus my monthly fee. Totally worth it and I've talked to the guys running it and was told to get the word out, because the more people the better they can make the coverage. Makes it a lot easier to decide whether to go to ER when you hurt yourself....No one should have to base that decision on money, but unfortunately it happens all the time.

H., yeah, the point i was trying to make is that this does not cost very much either way.

Originally Posted by klar

H., yeah, the point i was trying to make is that this does not cost very much either way.

True, proad member of ÖAV since 2003 or so, alas I don't speak that much german much less live anywhere near Austria.

I haven't skiied w/o insurance, but thats mainly because the season didnt start before my employee benefits coverage did.

I did ride my mtb and climb all summer w/o insurance but every time I did I was super-duper cautious. It definitely kept me from riding as fast or as hard since I was imagining myself OTB with several $$$$ in medical bills from a broken collarbone or arm or busted up teeth.

It would have been cool to have that option in the meantime.

I WANT SOME!

okbye

Coverage is different in Yurp, where you pay for any rescue whether on piste or off. Since nearly every rescue involves a heli ride, you better have ski insurance i when in Yurp. Here there is rarely a recue charge, even off piste, so regular health insurance is fine. If you have no health insurance, this may work, but to covery someone all season would be expensive. When in Yurp, I have purchased the insurance for the week I was skiing.

If I didn't have insurance in 06', wifey and I would have paid out $26,000 in out of pocket. We have paid $6,000. That is a good return.

Yep, insurance seems pretty expensive until you have a serious accident.

spent almost all of last season without it, got it sometime mid-march last year. Then I spent all mtn bike season without and still don't have it, although I hope to buy it sometime soon.........


edit: although I wish I had it all of lastyear, I would have a rotator cuff in my right shoulder if I did........

Originally Posted by kush1

spent almost all of last season without it, got it sometime mid-march last year. Then I spent all mtn bike season without and still don't have it, although I hope to buy it sometime soon.........


edit: although I wish I had it all of lastyear, I would have a rotator cuff in my right shoulder if I did........

Dude, you dropped HA w/o health insurance??? That is C O R E !

Originally Posted by AsheanMT

we're not insured. can't afford it.

You're taking a real gamble if you dont have any insurance. Its fine for the everyday small stuff but if you wreck your knee or really have a major injury - debt, debt, debt. My cousin had no insurance - crashed into a tree and ruptured his spleen - now paying off thousands and thousands in hospital bills - 3yrs later.

Find a policy that has a high deductible - like $2000 and very little regular doctor visit benefits - it'll be a lot cheaper than your run of the mill insurance.

bump up bump

I've skied without health insurance (though I did have VA treatment as an option). I've skied with health insurance.

Accident or catastrophic event type coverage is something that I would consider. It definitely fills a gap and offers savings to those who are normally in excellent health except when the need stitches, an MRI, etc.

I think it says somewhere in the Talmud that Jews cannot go uninsured. Thus with no full time job I pay over $6000 a year for insurance. I have some specific health needs that necessitate good coverage though, so my expense is unusual.

Id be interested. There is a thing here in St Anton where its 25 euro for the season for Heli rescue.
In the states I have accident insurance, which covers skiing and rafting. I have a Humana plan on top of that with a $5000 deductable. The accident insurance has a $100 deductible and covers the first $5000. Pretty nice plan all in all, and im paying like $65/mo.
If that helps at all.
and oh yeah, i ruptured a tendon in my shoulder a week ago, so im pretty glad i have insurance for the 600 euro MRI and the X-Rays.
Fizz-uk

Originally Posted by gamma

I've been toying with the idea of bringing the european ski insurance thing to the USofA.

The only problem with this is the fact that the core of it is socialized medicine.

I might have, a couple of days in my 20s. I went without health insurance for a while when I was a freelance graphic artist -- as you might guess, in the early 1990s, being a single young man who was involved in something related to the arts and lived in Greenwich Village basically redlined me out of any reasonable cost individual insurance.

But now that others depend on me? Forget about it.