[jolepp]

The family of Sarah Burke is struggling to raise more than half a million dollars to cover its medical bills because the Canadian freestyle skier, who died after falling during a training run in Utah, may not have had medical insurance for an unsanctioned event.

Burke died Thursday morning in a Salt Lake City hospital, more than a week after tearing the artery that supplies blood to the brainstem during the fall in the superpipe at the Park City Mountain Resort.
...

Sarah Burke's family faces $550K medical bill - British Columbia - CBC News

[Wheatfield]

Apparently, donations have covered the costs associated with her treatment.

[jolepp]

Indeed, update: Sarah Burke's medical bills covered by donations - British Columbia - CBC News.

[Jasvox]

I am surprised she wasn't covered by a comprehensive medical insurance considering the nature of her profession.

Jason

[jolepp]

It seems that she had insucrance, but there was a 'fine print' issue whereby the insurance company could decline to pay.

[grhazelton]

Apparently the coverage applied only to sanctioned events, not the one she was participating in. We have acquaintances who have Canadian relatives. When they come to the US they are very careful to buy medical coverage, since the Canadian coverage isn't valid outside Canada.

[redrockcoulee]

Sounds like Health Canada was taking care of a good portion of the expenses and the one report I read stated it was closer to 200K

Canadian coverage is valid in the US however there are two factors in place, first of all it is valid for only a short period of time. if I go for a week or two it is different than if I went for six months. Secondly we are only covered at Canadian rates therefore most of the cost may not be covered.I know of a couple of people who were air lifted from a US hospital to Canada as they flight was cheaper than staying in a US hospital. Also I imagine completing in this type of event requires its own insurance

[grhazelton]

Thanks for the clarification. I wish we here in the States had coverage like you Canadians do. I see all too many mason jars in 7-11s asking for donations for some child needing expensive care.

[reeftool]

All the bills have been covered from what we have been hearing at the Dew Tour. All remaining donations are going into a foundation. Here's the link if anyone is interested.
Raise Money For Medical Expenses To Support Rory Bushfield

[autumnbringer]

I am surprised she wasn't covered by a comprehensive medical insurance considering the nature of her profession.

Jason

I'm glad they at least cover her profession at all - though of course they didn't cover this event

A few years back, Mike Aitken, a pro BMXer suffered some really bad injuries and they had to raise money to cover costs for him too. Apparently no insurance company would ever cover him (or presumably other pro BMXers) at all, so insurance isn't always an option for people who do something a bit dangerous for a living unfortunately.

[reeftool]

Insurance is required to compete in most of the events. It doesn't cover all that much and it's mostly to protect the event from liability. Most pro skiers don't make much money. A handful at the very top make some but the majority pay their own way and work jobs like everybody else. Being pro gets you skis and other equipment from your sponsors, not a paycheck.

[wildweasel]

Being a Brit with full and comprehensive medical care as my birthright I'm constantly amazed and slightly appalled at first-world countries that don't provide such cover for their citizens. This includes the majority of Europe as well as the Americas. To put this in context, my mother was treated for breast cancer two weeks ago and the total cost for her treatment, surgery, follow up care, all medications inc. nuclear medicine etc. came to £2.40 for the car park at the hospital when I went to collect her after her operation. And we find even that iniquitous over here... I'm not saying the NHS is cheap or perfect, but it's pretty damn close to as good as it's possible to get. Even our dental care is as near as spit to free, under £20 for a check up inc. two treatments such as an x-ray and filling, and any further treatments above that are charged at something like £16.50 per two, meaning that when I had two wisdom teeth out a few years back they also gave me a scale 'n' clean all for the price of a few beers.

Our govt's in the process of trying to sell off the NHS atm but has been somewhat shocked by the huge level of opposition to the idea and it looks like they're having to not only shelve the idea but enshrine safe guards to prevent that from happening. Kudos to Obama for his basic healthcare scheme, but you guys who have posted in this thread come from considerably wealthier countries than mine so I'd say you should think about shouting for universal comprehensive healthcare for all. That and education are the bare minimum a country should provide for its citizens if you ask me. We're proud of our NHS in GB, it's the one good thing we've got left.

[reeftool]

Unfortunately, many people here in the US don't seem to think that health care is a necessity. The debate rages still. In the case of Sarah, she is from Canada and her injuries happened across the border in the US. Also, there are limits to the extent of care that insurance will pay for in the case of bad injuries. Many insurances have small print that excludes sports injuries for professional athletes. My daughter is a pro freeskier in the same event as Sarah Burke. I say "pro" loosely because the majority of the kids you see competing at these events are paying their own way and don't win much money. The pro label means sponsorship so the skier or snowboarder gets a free pair of skis and the status of being "pro". They still have to buy their own passes, provide their own transportation and keep a roof over their heads. Pro skiers from some other countries get paid by their governments or sponsors all year. A lot of American kids are grumbling. One guy in particular did a magazine add for his sponsor, a clothing company, and didn't keep to even keep the clothes. He didn't get enough money to pay his cellphone bill much less his rent. This is the "glam" life of the pro skier.

[wildweasel]

Well that sucks, both the attitudes (heard about them over here, unbelievable when it's coming from those politicians who are vocally proud of being Christians) to universal health care, and the pros not getting paid.

[grhazelton]

I find amazing the Republican furor over Obama's health care makeover, which still relies on private insurance companies, much to my disappointment. I have yet to see any substantive alternatives proposed, other than assertions that market forces will solve the problem. Haven't we had many, many decades of market forces molding the current horror show which is our health care delivery system? The whole idea of insurance is spreading the risk over many persons, but if companies are allowed to cherry-pick whom they will cover there will be a group which, by virtue of pre-existing conditions, who cannot be insured under the current system. With the refinement of DNA analysis it will be all too easy for companies to deny coverage to anyone whose DNA, samples of which are easily obtained, indicates a possibility of certain diseases or conditions.

All the current blather over being required to buy insurance violating the constitution reminds me that young men are still required to register with the Selective Service System. The web site references certain vague consequences for not registering.

How many would-be entrepeneurs fear to quit their "day jobs" because they would then be without insurance? Many years ago a friend and I did wedding and sports shoots part time; neither of us dared go full-time, I was divorced and Joe's wife worked part time, thus no health coverage without our day jobs.