One of my siblings is an athlete, and I'm following her footsteps. Do I find health insurance for athletes? Or is it hard to find such coverage?
Total Comments: 8
Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2010 05:48 am Post Subject:
Insurance carriers are a bit skeptical about offering health insurance to athletes. I guess in general all athletes maintain a healthy lifestyle, but then it has got nothing to do with the injuries that they suffer from. Such injuries may pose serious risks for all insurance carriers.
Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2010 12:25 pm Post Subject:
well i browsed the web and found that athletes could be insured against injuries. please visit this link: (link removed by moderator lori)
Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2010 07:37 pm Post Subject:
Health insurance is no more difficult to place for athletes than other persons. It's all based on underwriting criteria. If you have no prior health challenges, are within height & weight guidelines, you should not find it difficult to be insured. HMO, PPO, EPO, POS, or Major Medical.
Having said that, if you are young, in good health, and don't expect to see the doctor much, then you might be interested in setting up a Health Savings Account (HSA) in combination with a "High Deductible Health Plan" (HDHP). These allow you to set aside money on a tax-favored basis and use the money for qualified health care expenses. The high deductible health plan means that your initial medical care each year is going to be an out of pocket expense, but, depending on the HDHP itself, once you reach the deductible, your remaining care in the year could be covered 100%. That could mean less total out of pocket expense, including the premiums, than other healthcare options.
If you contribute to your HSA, but don't use any/all of the money in a year, it rolls over for use in the future, and grows tax-deferred. You could reach retirement age with several hundred thousand dollars available for health care, or you could use the money, with an income tax implication, to help fund your retirement.
Obamacare may have some negative impact on HSAs and HDHPs, but we'll have to wait and see how it all plays out.
Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2010 09:15 am Post Subject:
I've come across so many comments predicting negative impact of Obamacare across health insurance forums, but I haven't got a clearer picture. I know, we'll need to wait and see. At the same time, I'd like to have someone pointing out the possibilities.
Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2010 09:23 am Post Subject:
See, even the health exercises that we do everyday have some amount of risk involved with them. For all insurance carriers our risks will vary with the nature of sport that we're involved in. If you're a Rugby player, you're certainly up there!
Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2010 01:51 pm Post Subject:
I'd like to have someone pointing out the possibilities.
Sil . . .
What "possibilities" did you want pointed out?
1. That Obamacare will bankrupt the United States.
2. That Obamacare is intended to take commercial insurance companies out of the healthcare picture.
3. That Obamacare will require insurance companies to accept all preexisting conditions. (Insurance companies that don't want to do that can voluntarily exit the market. See #2 above.)
4. That without commercial insurance companies to provide healthcare protection, the only provider will be the US Government (AKA: the "single payer" system idealized by the Democrats.)
5. That if the US Government is the only provider of healthcare protection, the cost to provide that will result in higher taxes for all or higher budget deficits forever, or both. (Either way, it portends the likelihood that there will not be enough money to pay the bills. See #1 above.)
So I ask, "What possibilities did you have in mind?"
1. That everyone in America will have free healthcare protection without restrictions. (It does not exist anywhere else in the world.)
2. That a healthcare system which currently provides benefits to more than 280,000,000 people is more in need of "overhaul" than simply finding a way to provide benefits to the 40,000,000-50,000,000 who find themselves without coverage on any given day. (That should have been the focus of Obama and Congress.)
3. That unending budget deficits or the unrestrained printing and circulation of currency to overcome them will not lead to uncontrollable inflation. (Just "google" Weimar Republic and see what you discover about hyperinflation. I can save you the trouble: The value of the Papiermark had declined from 4.2 per US dollar at the outbreak of World War I to 1 million per dollar by August 1923.)
4. That the US Government will suddenly learn the value of actuarially sound "premiums" and begin to operate its healthcare systems profitably. (As would any commercial insurance company.)
5. That most people will become aware of the fact that the EXISTING Social Security and Medicare programs are headed toward an $87,000,000,000,000+ structural funding shortfall in or before the year 2040, simply because Congress has refused to set actuarially sound premiums. (There is not enough money in America to provide for that shortfall between now and then and still leave money in the pockets of our citizens.)
6. That China will serve its "foreclosure notice" on America by cashing in all of the US debt it owns when the Chinese government comes to its senses and realizes that Obamacare is not good for China.
I'd really like to know what possibilities you see in Obama's signing of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, and its immediate predecessor the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.
Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2010 09:06 am Post Subject:
Max, now I have a clearer picture of what seems to offer more job losses for us. How will this govt. stand if many of us are forced to file bankruptcy? I don't see an easy way out of this problem with a major chunk of our population already in knee-deep debt.
Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2010 09:38 am Post Subject:
Well, Congress didn't seem to care that the majority of Americans were not in favor of healthcare reform, and the number has increased since passage and signing of the legislation into law. We'll see the results in the November elections.
This country was formed, in large part, in reaction to the concept of taxation without representation. But we are squarely back in that position at the hands of our own federal and state legislators to fail to heed the collective will of their constituents.
At least the VOTE is still mightier than the sword. All who are eligible to VOTE should not pass the coming opportunity to register their feelings about their elected representatives, one way or another.
To hear people say things like, "I'm not going to vote because there is no one to vote for," hurts me deeply. They can always vote for a "minor party" candidate, as a way to send a signal to the eventual winner that those votes were as much a vote of "no confidence" in them as they were a vote for someone else.
America is in serious trouble because the same goofballs are being reelected to Congress time and time again. There should be term limits at the federal level like there are in many states. 6-and-out for the House of Representatives, and 8-and-out for the Senate, with at least a four year mandatory waiting period before running for another office, including that of President and Vice President perhaps, would suit me just fine.
Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2010 05:48 am Post Subject:
Insurance carriers are a bit skeptical about offering health insurance to athletes. I guess in general all athletes maintain a healthy lifestyle, but then it has got nothing to do with the injuries that they suffer from. Such injuries may pose serious risks for all insurance carriers.
Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2010 12:25 pm Post Subject:
well i browsed the web and found that athletes could be insured against injuries. please visit this link:
(link removed by moderator lori)
Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2010 07:37 pm Post Subject:
Health insurance is no more difficult to place for athletes than other persons. It's all based on underwriting criteria. If you have no prior health challenges, are within height & weight guidelines, you should not find it difficult to be insured. HMO, PPO, EPO, POS, or Major Medical.
Having said that, if you are young, in good health, and don't expect to see the doctor much, then you might be interested in setting up a Health Savings Account (HSA) in combination with a "High Deductible Health Plan" (HDHP). These allow you to set aside money on a tax-favored basis and use the money for qualified health care expenses. The high deductible health plan means that your initial medical care each year is going to be an out of pocket expense, but, depending on the HDHP itself, once you reach the deductible, your remaining care in the year could be covered 100%. That could mean less total out of pocket expense, including the premiums, than other healthcare options.
If you contribute to your HSA, but don't use any/all of the money in a year, it rolls over for use in the future, and grows tax-deferred. You could reach retirement age with several hundred thousand dollars available for health care, or you could use the money, with an income tax implication, to help fund your retirement.
Obamacare may have some negative impact on HSAs and HDHPs, but we'll have to wait and see how it all plays out.
Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2010 09:15 am Post Subject:
I've come across so many comments predicting negative impact of Obamacare across health insurance forums, but I haven't got a clearer picture. I know, we'll need to wait and see. At the same time, I'd like to have someone pointing out the possibilities.
Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2010 09:23 am Post Subject:
See, even the health exercises that we do everyday have some amount of risk involved with them. For all insurance carriers our risks will vary with the nature of sport that we're involved in. If you're a Rugby player, you're certainly up there!
Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2010 01:51 pm Post Subject:
I'd like to have someone pointing out the possibilities.
Sil . . .
What "possibilities" did you want pointed out?
1. That Obamacare will bankrupt the United States.
2. That Obamacare is intended to take commercial insurance companies out of the healthcare picture.
3. That Obamacare will require insurance companies to accept all preexisting conditions. (Insurance companies that don't want to do that can voluntarily exit the market. See #2 above.)
4. That without commercial insurance companies to provide healthcare protection, the only provider will be the US Government (AKA: the "single payer" system idealized by the Democrats.)
5. That if the US Government is the only provider of healthcare protection, the cost to provide that will result in higher taxes for all or higher budget deficits forever, or both. (Either way, it portends the likelihood that there will not be enough money to pay the bills. See #1 above.)
So I ask, "What possibilities did you have in mind?"
1. That everyone in America will have free healthcare protection without restrictions. (It does not exist anywhere else in the world.)
2. That a healthcare system which currently provides benefits to more than 280,000,000 people is more in need of "overhaul" than simply finding a way to provide benefits to the 40,000,000-50,000,000 who find themselves without coverage on any given day. (That should have been the focus of Obama and Congress.)
3. That unending budget deficits or the unrestrained printing and circulation of currency to overcome them will not lead to uncontrollable inflation. (Just "google" Weimar Republic and see what you discover about hyperinflation. I can save you the trouble: The value of the Papiermark had declined from 4.2 per US dollar at the outbreak of World War I to 1 million per dollar by August 1923.)
4. That the US Government will suddenly learn the value of actuarially sound "premiums" and begin to operate its healthcare systems profitably. (As would any commercial insurance company.)
5. That most people will become aware of the fact that the EXISTING Social Security and Medicare programs are headed toward an $87,000,000,000,000+ structural funding shortfall in or before the year 2040, simply because Congress has refused to set actuarially sound premiums. (There is not enough money in America to provide for that shortfall between now and then and still leave money in the pockets of our citizens.)
6. That China will serve its "foreclosure notice" on America by cashing in all of the US debt it owns when the Chinese government comes to its senses and realizes that Obamacare is not good for China.
I'd really like to know what possibilities you see in Obama's signing of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, and its immediate predecessor the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.
Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2010 09:06 am Post Subject:
Max, now I have a clearer picture of what seems to offer more job losses for us. How will this govt. stand if many of us are forced to file bankruptcy? I don't see an easy way out of this problem with a major chunk of our population already in knee-deep debt.
Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2010 09:38 am Post Subject:
Well, Congress didn't seem to care that the majority of Americans were not in favor of healthcare reform, and the number has increased since passage and signing of the legislation into law. We'll see the results in the November elections.
This country was formed, in large part, in reaction to the concept of taxation without representation. But we are squarely back in that position at the hands of our own federal and state legislators to fail to heed the collective will of their constituents.
At least the VOTE is still mightier than the sword. All who are eligible to VOTE should not pass the coming opportunity to register their feelings about their elected representatives, one way or another.
To hear people say things like, "I'm not going to vote because there is no one to vote for," hurts me deeply. They can always vote for a "minor party" candidate, as a way to send a signal to the eventual winner that those votes were as much a vote of "no confidence" in them as they were a vote for someone else.
America is in serious trouble because the same goofballs are being reelected to Congress time and time again. There should be term limits at the federal level like there are in many states. 6-and-out for the House of Representatives, and 8-and-out for the Senate, with at least a four year mandatory waiting period before running for another office, including that of President and Vice President perhaps, would suit me just fine.
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