Posted on 01/21/2006 6:11:19 PM PST by BlueOneGolf
Imagine you went to work one day, and your boss handed you a memo that said your employer, to protect the benefits of “responsible” employees, would no longer cover motorcycle-related injuries under the company’s health insurance? Plus, the company wouldn’t make good on its employee life insurance policy if you were killed in a motorcycle crash. You’d still be covered if you did almost anything else: bungee jumping, skydiving, scuba diving, skiing. Just not on your motorcycle.
Outrageous? We think so. But that’s exactly what happened this summer to hundreds of workers at the American Coal Company mine in Galatia, Illinois. The company notified them that coverage was being terminated immediately—without warning—on any motorcycle-related injury to employees or their dependents.
That means if a worker is injured riding a legally licensed motorcycle on the street, there’s no medical coverage. Even if the injury is caused by another driver, the rider could lose. He’d be entirely dependent on the other driver’s insurance coverage. And these days, medical bills can quickly overwhelm minimum-coverage policies—if the other driver even has insurance. But it goes beyond that. If the worker has a kid who’s injured riding a minibike in the back yard, that’s not covered. If the worker’s spouse is hurt while riding, that’s not covered. Any injury could wipe out the family’s finances.
Ironically, American Coal has imposed this discriminatory rule in one of the biggest motorcycling states in the country. Illinois ranks sixth in the number of road motorcycles nationally, and the Motorcycle Industry Council estimates that motorcycling contributes $900 million to the state’s economy.
(Excerpt) Read more at home.ama-cycle.org ...
The problem of companies refusing health-insurance claims for motorcycle injuries isn’t new. In fact, the AMA has been fighting for your rights on this issue for more than decade. We thought we had the problem solved in 1996, when President Clinton signed the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Through the work of the AMA, the act included a provision prohibiting employers from denying health-care coverage due to, among other things, participation in legal activities like motorcycling. But in 2001, bureaucrats who implemented the law essentially reversed its intent.
They said employers couldn’t refuse health-care coverage because an employee rides a motorcycle. But they allowed employers to continue denying claims for injuries sustained in motorcycle accidents. No, it doesn’t make a lot of sense. But that’s the law. And we’re not stopping the fight.
A solution to the issue, however, is as close as two bills introduced by lawmakers who understand the problem. “What people don’t know until it’s too late, is that currently, employers’ health-insurance providers are legally permitted to deny benefits for injuries sustained while participating in certain transportation or recreational activities such as motorcycling, snowmobiling, skiing and horseback riding,” said U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), who joined with U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) to introduce SB 577 to change the law. A similar bill was introduced in the House-HR2793, offered by U.S. Reps. Michael Burgess (R-TX) and Ted Strickland (D-OH).
Currently, the bills remain in committee. And that’s where you come in. The more our representatives in Washington are aware of the problem, the better our chances of moving forward on the issue.
“We’ve supported bipartisan bills in Congress to end this kind of health-care discrimination. And we need your help to get the law clarified in Congress so that motorcyclists and others who take part in legal activities are covered,” says Edward Moreland, the AMA’s vice president for government affairs.
Voicing your support is as easy as visiting the AMA Rapid Response Center where you can send e-mails in support of the bills.
I don't.
Any company can decide what they will insure and not insure. It's called risk management.
If you don't like it, find a company to work for that will cover it.
Although I think the best solution long-term is to get companies out of the business of providing health insurance.
Oh the irony- I'm pretty sure that riding a motorcycle is safer than working in a mine.
So you call your automotive policy carrier and increase your death benefits, and eat the premiums. Is there a problem here, or are employers under obligation to insure every imaginable risk?
Sound similar to the Miracle-Gro Nazis???
You sign up for a job...they're the boss. Take charge of your OWN insurance and don't rely on a BOSSMAN!!
You folks who don't understand the freedom an individual health care account will give you are gonna be whinin' like this guy!!!
yinz needs to see this one too.
Who got fired?
Outside of that policy, a dynamite hauler can't get life insurance for anything arising out of the hauling or use of dynamite.
I believe there's a similar situation for the fellows who run the log trucks up in the mountains.
If insurance companies were not regulated industry, I would agree completely. When the state grants them a license and lets them overcharge for their services, with the protection of the state, then I have questions.
When an industry receives the protection of regulation, it should not only be subject to the liability the state wants them to accept, but serious limitations of profit. They can always choose not to do business at all in the state.
No problem, then. The motorcycle riders' associations can set up insurance pools that will offer single-risk policies, and the premiums will be low because riding a motorcycle is safer than working in a mine.
ping...muawiuah! I'm tired of these whiners!!
Did somebody in FR post something like that?
Hey, "regulation" is not "protection". It is "extortion", using the power of the state to obtain unearned benefit for somebody somewhere.
I know, silly. Who did American Coal fire?
You’d still be covered if you did almost anything else: bungee jumping, skydiving, scuba diving, skiing. Just not on your motorcycle.
If someone rides a motorcycle in their free time will they be fired?
Self-directed medical accounts...the only answer.
I always did think that if long-term insurance was taken out of the benefit packages, it would be more competitive and available to the individuals.
Strange how this shakes out, isn't it? Forcing a company to pay a certain wage is bad. Forcing a company to cover injuries from certain behaviors is good.
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