Special Report: Does your health insurance cover ATV-related injuries?
Sept. 23, 2004 – Imagine your health insurance policy has a clause that says it won't cover injuries related to riding an ATV.
Colin Klier, a 28-year-old longtime motorcycle and ATV racer and rider from Canal Winchester, Ohio, recently found out the hard way that those kinds of "exclusions"—lists of injuries your insurance won't cover—do exist.
Klier was at a friend's house trying out the friend's new ATV when he had an accident and had to go to a hospital emergency room.
He got patched up at a cost of $1,377.22, and his medical insurance company refused to pay the bill.
According to Klier, he learned after-the-fact that his policy includes an exclusion that states: "Hazardous Hobby or Activity. Care and treatment of an injury or sickness that results from engaging in a hazardous hobby or activity. A hobby or activity is hazardous if it is an unusual activity which is characterized by a constant threat of danger or risk of bodily harm. Examples of hazardous hobbies or activities are skydiving, auto racing, hang gliding, jet ski operating or bungee jumping."
The insurance plan administrators used that clause to refuse to pay Klier's medical bills.
Klier is outraged.
"It is my belief that riding an ATV is neither unusual nor characterized by a constant threat of danger or risk of bodily harm," Klier says.
The ATVA and AMA are fighting this health-insurance discrimination against ATVers and motorcyclists in the halls of Washington, and we need your help.
U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) introduced S. 423 "The Health Care Parity for Legal Transportation and Recreational Activities Act." U.S. Reps. Scott McInnis (R-Colorado) and Ted Strickland (D-Ohio) introduced a similar measure in the House, H.R.1749.
The legislation aims to ensure that motorcyclists, ATVers, snowmobilers, horseback riders, runners and others get the medical care they need.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee has approved the measure. We're now waiting for the committee to send the bill to the Senate floor for a full vote before the end of the congressional session this year.
The House bill, meanwhile, has stalled.
"We need the help of quadders and anyone else concerned about ensuring fair medical care for everyone to contact their U.S. senators and ask that S. 423 be reported out of the Senate Health committee for a full floor vote," says Patrick Holtz, AMA/ATVA Washington representative, "and to support the bill when it gets to the floor.
"With Congress about to end, it's important that we act now to get this legislation passed," Holtz says.
An easy way to contact your federal lawmakers is through the Rapid Response Center on this website. There, you will find a message already written to send to your lawmakers via e-mail.
Also, check with the people who administer your health-insurance plan to be sure that you're covered on your ATV. And read your medical insurance policy to see if there are any exclusions that bar payment for ATV-related injuries.
Don't just assume you've got coverage—that oversight has cost Colin Klier almost $1,400, and has cost others plenty.