Climbing without health insurance.

It's a bit spicy, yes?

Makes you make sure you're safe, eh?

Good karma to all that are willing to send.

-Mike

Just adventurous and sure.

I think it's similar to how any competent soloist doesn't think about death while soloing because the aim is for that not to happen, and thinking about it is paralyzing and counterproductive.

If a soloist only thinks about death as a result of their potential failure, they probably wouldn't ever leave the ground. Instead, they dismiss that thought, and focus on making it not happen.

If a climber only considers the fact that they don't have health insurance, then they'd likely be indoors eating vegetables and making extra thick tin foil hats.

Sure, maybe don't do highballs over sketchy landings every weekend if you don't have insurance, but don't let it hold you back either.

s.price wrote:I soloed extensively in the 80's without health insurance and never thought about it. Have had insurance for 25 years now(last solos were Blaine Buttress and Ellingwood Arete 2 years ago) and still never think about it. Maybe I'm just dumb.

Health insurance won't help much on most free solos.

1. Medical bills do effect your credit.
2. We all pay for your crack head mistake with billing inflation.

you dont need it to climb...

As the shoptechs at my school say.

"Just don't fuck up"

wear a helmet and stick to toproping........OK?

I did it for a while, and my acceptable level of risk was a lot lower than it is while insured.

I have shitty insurance now and I'm pondering whether to get an x-ray after spraining my ankle badly yesterday. Kinda makes me sick that I am in the position of choosing between paying a couple hundred dollars for an x-ray and not knowing for sure whether I have any fractures.

I climbed (and lived) uninsured in Ecuador for months... and if this had happened there, I could get a free x-ray no questions. In poor, third-world Ecuador. And in big, rich US, I HAVE insurance and have to pay $50 just to go to the doctor.

Sorry for the drift... grumblings of an injured man with ice packs on his foot.

You can afford health insurance?

Read this one!!!

I had a bad tick bite a few weeks ago that luckily was just infected. That medical bill just to reassure me that I didn't have rocky mountain spotted fever cost $$$, thankfully I was insured. "I was doing every thing right," tick checks, wearing a helmet and using a 13mm rope.

I had a bad wreck ice climbing........

2 weeks in the hospital......

4 MONTHS of Physical Therapy.......

IF I had not had a major medical insurance policy......

We would have been putting the house up for sale.......

It's the old adage.......

"It won't happen to me"...

Until it does......

Funny thing on the sled lower down the hillside I was thinking, "did I mail that check for this month's coverage"

I was covered and was very happy to have it.......

PatrickV wrote:And yet Sanz, oddly enough, you had the dough to travel to Ecuador and live for a few months.

I worked full time while I lived in Ecuador.

I'm not saying my plight is tragic, but that the general fact that someone who pays hundreds of dollars for insurance still has to pay hundreds of dollars more just to get an x-ray is.

Choosing between an x-ray and a couple climbing weekends sucks... choosing between an x-ray and feeding your kids is something that should never happen. In the US (GDP per capita 50K) it does, to thousands of people. In Ecuador (GDP per capita 10K), it doesn't.

i wont climb with someone without it ... i dont want to deal with getting stuck on a trip somewhere and realizing the guy cant pay for the needed care ...

nor would i do that to my partners, when i climb in the states i get temp insurance

of course in canuckistan, its not a real worry .... our commie socialist system does has its advantages

;)

No health insurance? Bad idea. The majority of bankruptcies in this country are due to unpaid medical bills. Whether climbing or not, all it takes is an accident out of someone's control (like being hit by a falling rock or a car or something) to pretty much ruin that person financially for a very, very long time. Or you can lose your climbing vacation savings with one visit to a hospital for a bad case of food poisoning. Paying medical bills sucks bad enough with insurance, but without it you're pretty screwed. Do what it takes to at least get a cheap catastrophic policy or something. It's just not worth the risk. The Time article mentioned above is a good one to read.

Jim Amidon wrote:I had a bad wreck ice climbing........ 2 weeks in the hospital...... 4 MONTHS of Physical Therapy....... IF I had not had a major medical insurance policy...... We would have been putting the house up for sale....... It's the old adage....... "It won't happen to me"... Until it does...... Funny thing on the sled lower down the hillside I was thinking, "did I mail that check for this month's coverage" I was covered and was very happy to have it.......

WTF man. Are you a 12 year old girl writing a blog? Why would you type like that?

I wonder if all of the old school pioneers had insurance? I think not.

The costs of healthcare hadn't yet spiraled completely out of control when the pioneers were climbing.

just say you are an indigen, then you get free medical care...well essentially that's what you will be anyway if you happen to have a major climbing accident and the best health insurance anyway....

bearbreeder wrote:i wont climb with someone without it ... i dont want to deal with getting stuck on a trip somewhere and realizing the guy cant pay for the needed care ... nor would i do that to my partners, when i climb in the states i get temp insurance of course in canuckistan, its not a real worry .... our commie socialist system does has its advantages ;)

hehehe another check mark to the list of climbing partners interview. Maybe they expect you to be nice and pay their bills for them, matey? You crack me up!

I'm gonna apologize in advance for bending guideline #1, but...

crackhead wrote:just say you are an indigen, then you get free medical care...well essentially that's what you will be anyway if you happen to have a major climbing accident and the best health insurance anyway....

The word is indigent. As in: "In need of guidance."

HINT.
Open another tab on yer 'puter to
You know, I'm not that confident in my spelling skills, but I'd like to get my point across without Tom-o having to slap his forehead. Try spelling that word, and MAGIC!
Forehead pain is gone!!!

P.S.
If your injuries can be "explained" as being caused by a NORMAL athletic passtime, ie: I fell while playing basketball/soccer/rollerskating/birdwatching/bicycling, etc.. I'd suggest sticking to that story.
Insurers don't need to know your in the "extreme risk" category.