Meadors, Ivan C
Consider alternatives to insurance:
In some states (Texas, specifically), motorists who are "uninsurable" have the option to purchase a bond.
Maybe his could be done from a bicyclist's perspective, providing coverage for their liability in accidents
or to a minimal extent, possibly for coverage of their own health care (likely to be never enough, given medical costs)?
LINK
Texas Car Insurance Requirements:
Self-bonding, or self-insuring, to meet the Texas car insurance requirements does have its advantages. First, you do not have to worry about whether or not it is going to be difficult to get insurance - if you are providing it, it is already there! You also do not have to concern yourself with premiums, making payments on time, or renewal and cancellation in the matter of being self-insured.
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From: obra-bounces@list.obra.org [mailto:obra-bounces@list.obra.org] On Behalf Of b hamon
Sent: Wednesday, December 16, 2009 3:11 PM
To: obra@list.obra.org
Subject: [OBRA Chat] racing/riding with insurance (Was: CrossNats crash)
While I appreciate the perspective of those who strongly advise against racing or riding recreationally without health insurance, let's consider another perspective.
The fact is that a great many amateur bicycle racers at the most grass-roots, entry levels of the sport do not have and cannot obtain health insurance. Some can't get it because they can't afford it. Others can't get it because preexisting conditions or family health histories have rendered them "uninsurable".
As someone who has been turned down by six different providers for a preexisting condition, I've been told more than once by various doctors and insurance agents that I shouldn't even consider riding my bicycle for transportation (much less racing or riding recreationally) because if I got hurt and required medical care I couldn't pay for, I'd be placing an unfair burden on everyone else. The fact is that, by making it impossible for me to get health coverage, the system is placing an equally unfair burden on me. (Never mind that I ride for transportation because car ownership is unaffordable; or that a life that revolves around daily bike-riding is a great form of preventative medicine and keeps health care costs lower for everyone.).
Asking bike racers to abstain from the sport until they can get health insurance would cut the ranks of amateur racers by at least half, and would ultimately hurt the sport by reinforcing its reputation as an activity suitable only for the well-off.
(It's worth remembering that, until well past the middle of the last century, most professional bike racers in Europe usually came from the ranks of the very poor.)
It comes down to choices. Either we do the best we can with the broken system we have and then we get on with our lives; or we cower in dark corners, stay locked in our homes and live in fear of making the slightest wrong move because we cannot get health insurance. Life is too short for me to live in that much fear, so I'll stay on my bike.
Beth Hamon
http://bikelovejones.livejournal.com
http://veloquent.blogspot.com