Last winter, after skier Sarah Burke died from injuries sustained in a crash at Utah鈥檚 , the 29-year-old halfpipe champion鈥檚 family received hospital bills totaling a reported $200,000. Though Burke is Canadian, she wasn鈥檛 covered by her national health care system or by the , because she was training for an unsanctioned U.S. event when she fell. That left Burke鈥檚 agent, Michael Spencer, asking for charity from her fans, who came through with the amount in just 24 hours. But Burke鈥檚 insurance woes caused consternation throughout the action-sports world.
鈥淪ecuring reliable insurance is the hardest part of our job,鈥 tweeted American big-mountain skier Cody Townsend shortly after Burke鈥檚 death.
Indeed, most adventure athletes aren鈥檛 paid enough to afford medical insurance, which is unusually pricey owing to the risk inherent in their jobs. Townsend, who has had four injury-related surgeries, often finds himself denied coverage. Others, like Don Bowie, a climber and expedition mountaineer, aren鈥檛 willing to spend a quarter of their salaries on premiums. 鈥淪o I just don鈥檛 have insurance,鈥 he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 too expensive.鈥
These days, many athletes are wondering whether the new , a.k.a. Obamacare, will ease the pain when its most toothy provisions go into effect in 2014. There鈥檚 certainly one upside: insurers will no longer be able to deny banged-up athletes because of previous injuries. (This is the preexisiting-conditions language you鈥檝e heard so much about.) But they will still retain the right to exclude coverage for injuries suffered during certain risky activities. The Affordable Care Act won鈥檛 do anything to change that.
鈥淭he exclusions are in the fine print,鈥 says Brandon Parrish, owner of , a company that scours health-insurance policies to find coverage for action-sports athletes. 鈥淎nd they can include everything from participation in organized races to the use of ropes while climbing a mountain.鈥
Another common exception is overseas travel: most American insurance plans won鈥檛 cover injuries sustained while you鈥檙e out of the country, and Obamacare won鈥檛 change that, either. You鈥檒l still need to check the fine print and likely get special travel insurance to cover your vacations.
In Burke鈥檚 case, she simply failed to purchase single-trip supplemental insurance, which costs roughly $100 per week and covers most medical expenses. Her situation was unique in that it was caused by a misunderstanding rather than an inability to pay. Still, action-sports stars often leave sponsors in the difficult position of having to tell fans that an athlete鈥檚 health care isn鈥檛 their problem. In the days following Burke鈥檚 death, the drink company Monster Energy was inundated with indignant tweets like this one from Canadian Olympic gold-medalist rower Marnie McBean: 鈥淲hy isn鈥檛 @MonsterEnergy paying #SarahBurke鈥檚 medical bill?鈥
Monster offered that they were 鈥渃ommitted to helping [Burke鈥檚 family] financially,鈥 though no specific figure was ever released.
For the rest of us, Obamacare will make it easier to get basic coverage, but not necessarily to drink deeply from the slacklining, big wall-climbing, freeskiing cup of life.