cmur-@obra.org
See note below about USAC raising fees and medical deductibles
Dear Valued Members of USA Cycling,
I wanted to communicate with you to discuss an important matter
concerning the license fees for 2005. We will begin to sell licenses
for the 2005 season on November 1 so we need to let everyone know
where we stand and why we were forced to make these decisions.
We always strive to keep down costs to our members and promoters while
providing as much support as possible to the membership. Further, we
will not compromise our commitment to provide the most comprehensive
insurance coverage for our members.
As most of you know, insurance costs are rising rapidly in every area.
Insurance has been a widely discussed topic in the recent campaign
season for all levels of elected office, including the presidential
race.
Bottom Line? -- The loss rate for injuries incurred during the 2004
racing season exceeded our premium by more than 150% resulting in an
increase of approximately $500,000 in our insurance premium. This
increase is caused by a number of issues:
- More claims
- Higher medical costs
- An increase in the number of riders-members who use USA Cycling
insurance as a primary policy. Our policy is designed to be secondary
coverage.
In order to deal with this escalating issue, we will be taking the
following steps in 2005 to cover the cost of this dramatic increase to
our insurance:
1. One-day license price will increase from 5 to 10 dollars. To not do
this would mean that our annual members would be subsidizing our
non-members.
2. The deductible for riders using the USA Cycling policy as primary
coverage will increase from 2000 to 5000 dollars. For members who use
this policy as secondary coverage, the deductible will stay at 1000
dollars.
3. The cost for a primary license will increase from 50 to 60 dollars.
Add-on licenses will increase from 25 to 30 dollars. Other changes
include the International Licenses increasing to 150 dollars and the
junior license will cost 30 dollars.
While we regret having to increase our license fees, I hope you
understand that this decision is based solely on the ever rising cost
of insurance. I also hope that with the steps we have taken regarding
one day licenses and non-insured riders we can get this issue under
better control.
The insurance provided by USA Cycling has never been intended to
provide primary coverage. We have been proactive in addressing this
issue as well. We are working with an insurance company to offer
competitively priced insurance that can be purchased by riders to
protect them from experiencing excessive personal costs and to help
cover the majority of the deductible under our policy. We hope to be
rolling out this new program in the near future.
I appreciate your understanding in this matter and commit to you that
we will continue our efforts to manage this in the best interests of
our members. I hope to see you all racing in 2005!
Sincerely,
Gerard Bisceglia, CEO
USA Cycling, Inc.