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Athlete healthcare

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by Write-brained, Jul 6, 2008.

  1. This will probably be a short thread because it's solely about a question that came to me earlier today:

    How are professional and college athletes insured, I mean, who pays their medical bills when they're hurt?

    When Kevin Everett was nearly paralyzed, did the Bills incur all costs? The league? Did Everett have to pay anything?

    And if a college player blows out a knee, does the university pay everything?

    Do colleges and pro teams have insurance plans for the players in which the insurance companies pay the medical costs? I imagine so, but those must be awfully big premiums. Do those come out of the player salaries or from the teams?

    Just curious. I figured it would be easier to raise the question here than wade through all the crap on a Google search.
     
  2. Moderator1

    Moderator1 Moderator Staff Member

    Colleges are on the hook for all costs of injuries suffered by members of a sponsored team. Not positive on pros but I imagine it works the same way.
     
  3. Smasher_Sloan

    Smasher_Sloan Active Member

    Pro teams pay, and it's all in the cost of doing business. Just like having liability insurance to cover when some drunk slips and falls in the bleachers.

    You're seeing a lot of teams put the whole medical care thing up for bids to save money. That's why Joe's Hospital and Veterinary Clinic is the "official health care provider of the Seattle Pilots."
     
  4. ArnoldBabar

    ArnoldBabar Active Member

    That's probably costly -- those guys are getting pretty old by now. :)
     
  5. Moderator1

    Moderator1 Moderator Staff Member

    A few of 'em are dead, so they'll save there.
     
  6. ArnoldBabar

    ArnoldBabar Active Member

    When you say they incur the costs, do you mean that they pay for the medical treatment of the athletes, or they pay for the insurance that covers it? If Joe Backup Linebacker blows out a knee, are they writing a check for thousands to the hospital for the operation?
     
  7. Moderator1

    Moderator1 Moderator Staff Member

    They provide the insurance that pays the bills. The athletes pay nothing.
     
  8. I wonder how lucrative that is for the insurance companies. The premiums must be sky-high, but on the other hand the team will drop you if you decide, for instance, that you will no longer cover ACL surgery.
     
  9. More questions:

    Do the pro teams cover off the field injuries (such as Roethlisberger) and family insurance plans as well? If a QB's son is born with a life-threatening disease, is the team paying for that or do athletes have to pay for their own family plans?
     
  10. Sean Smyth

    Sean Smyth Member

    I hear this differs with racing drivers, because the drivers are considered independent contractors. Anyone know the deal?
     
  11. Moderator1

    Moderator1 Moderator Staff Member

    Most drivers are indeed independing contractors.

    W-B, I think it is just stuff that occurs in the course of doing business. I assume ol' Ben had to foot that one through his own insurance. But I admit that's just a guess.
     
  12. pseudo

    pseudo Well-Known Member

    Insurance benefits are included in the standard NFL player contract.

    NFLplayers.com (formerly NFLPA.org)
     
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