Speaking of Scams...

Don't worry, it's an actual question and not a rant.

What's the deal with sport insurance? For those who don't know, when you play in a league of competitive sport, insurance must be obtained in case of your personal injury. In little leagues, this cost is eaten by pop can drives, bake sales, and maybe the treasury of your town. Once you become a big boy, however, you have to pay for it yourself. In my hockey league, I pay $150+ for rink fees for the season, but then also a required $33 membership to USAHockey (the membership includes the insurance)

Why? I mean, it's not a scam in the sense it isn't there. If you get hurt, it does cover you for medical expenses up to an amount I would consider sufficient. I just can't understand why it's MANDATORY. Seems a nice idea for those that don't have health insurance so they can just put up the $33 and risk themselves free of fear, but why force the majority to do the same? Mandatory insurance on those who are already insured seems kind of hinky.

USAHockey covers nearly every form of hockey in the USA, and by "cover" I mean everyone who plays MUST obtain coverage, regardless of income and whether or not you have your own personal health coverage. $33 from nearly every player in the country's quite a large sum. Is it proper? I can't think of another example of this. Most activities require a fee, but that's for use of the facility (golf at a country club, for example). How is forced insurance even legal?

I don't have health insurance and played in an adult flag football league. They made us sign liability stuff but insurance wasn't required. I also realize that hockey is more violent than flag football.

Very good point, I omitted this fact. But I don't think "violence" is necessarily the tipping point. At my local short track, whether it's a track day where you run your street car or a full on NASCAR sponsored league event with proper race cars, you also sign a waiver stating you release the track from any and all responsibility should you or your vehicle become damaged. That seems a suitable process to protect the arena from any liability, and I'll go ahead and say as fact that auto racing is more dangerous than hockey.

So what's this insurance deal? I just don't see how an institution can force insurance on a person and the more I think about it, the less I understand it.

The insurance coverage is probably minimal anyway.

I could be one of the least athletic people around, but I love college football, so I follow sports a bit.

The only reason I can think of is should you sustain an injury while playing, you are covered under THEIR insurance. Life-long problems that result from a sports injury would be covered under you insurance. This would prevent you from "maxing out" too early. For example:

You get a concussion in a football game. The "insurance" you pay for as part of the fee covers your injury at the hospital, the ambulance, treatments associated with that concussion: Cost=$600,000 (extreme I know). You have migraines the rest of your life, traced from the concussion. Your personal health insurance covers you up to 1 million dollars. The migraine doctors bill you $600,000 (extreme I know). If you paid entirely under your insurance, you would owe $200,000. But since the first injury fell under the covered plan, it wouldn't max out your lifetime benefit.

That's the only reason I can think... well that, and they may not require you to prove you have health insurance...

This is a very good point, hell, I never would have thought or even considered it.

BUT, it's a good point proving the purpose of said insurance. My big question is how it can be made MANDATORY. I cannot opt out; if I don't cough up the $33, I can't play hockey, ever, until I pay it.

I don't want to make this bigger than it is. After all, it's just amateur hockey and it's just $33. Paying ~$200 for 6 months of something I love more than nearly everything is an unheard of bargain. It's just the priniciple. Weird charges irk me, like the fee I found when I refinanced my house, ~$18 basically for the agent to retrieve the contract from the printer.

I mean, if green fee's went up $5 across the board in case you strained your back on the front 9, you'd be irked, right?

The insurance... does it cover from injury caused by another player to you? If so, that might be a clue to the reason... it voids liability not just for injury, but also the cause of the injury.

You don't take insurance and get run over by a careless player, who say, breaks your leg. The fault was entirely the players. Your out several thousand dollars... if you sued, there a whole mess of problems. Get all players on the ice covered by the same insurance plan... a bunch of legal problems disappear.

Maybe.

I'm guessing.

Quote: thecesspit

The insurance... does it cover from injury caused by another player to you? If so, that might be a clue to the reason... it voids liability not just for injury, but also the cause of the injury.

You don't take insurance and get run over by a careless player, who say, breaks your leg. The fault was entirely the players. Your out several thousand dollars... if you sued, there a whole mess of problems. Get all players on the ice covered by the same insurance plan... a bunch of legal problems disappear.

Maybe.

I'm guessing.

Hmm, food for thought. Yes, it covers all injury, whether you bloop yourself into the boards or someone puts you there with force. Perhaps you have a point; instead of suing a guy for $X to cover your leg, you just bill the insurance. That actually IS a good reason, I think, so that helps with my concern. Thanks, cess =)

Still, it's kind of a weird concept. Wait....scratch that. It actually sounds like auto insurance ;).

Quote: thecesspit

it voids liability not just for injury, but also the cause of the injury.

This would be my guess as well. By forcing you to have insurance, it protects not only the organization, but the facility in which the sport is taking place.

A quick search revealed this FAQ:

Quote:

12. Why do I need USA Hockey’s insurance coverage when I already have insurance through other
means?
The coverage that USA Hockey provides is only one of the benefits of membership and is
not optional because it doesn’t just protect you. It also protects USA Hockey, rinks, teams,
associations, other participants, fans and spectators, as well as yourself. Many of them may not
have insurance, or enough of it, to protect themselves.
...
Having
USA Hockey insurance for all members, teams and associations is also a cost-effective means of
handling the needs of USA Hockey and its members, in a consistent manner.

Barring the costs of extreme injuries, it does seem redundant.

However, personal insurance policies may not cover team sports. What the league provides is relatively cheap, and allows the league to proceed without having to examine ever player's personal insurance plan to make sure the sport is covered and/or that premiums are paid, etc.

For my soccer officiating associations, some of our dues money goes to buy insurance..I think it's liability protection, not sure. I've never heard of anyone using it.

One time in a youth game I worked, a kid punched another kid. About a year later I get a call from lawyers because some sort of personal injury lawsuit was filed. I don't know if the clubs' insurance covered any of that.