Yet another big sponsorship announcement from IMNA for IMAZ…
As a sponsor of the Ironman Arizona Triathlon, NovaCare will provide a complimentary injury/prevention hotline for athletes with questions or concerns regarding the prevention or treatment of common sports-related injuries. Athletes are invited to call a NovaCare Physical Therapist or Certified Athletic Trainer for advice at: 480-892-0677.
So I guess in these last 18 days of super hard training (gotta give a respectable 2 days for taper) if you get hurt you can use this HUGE sponsorship perk.
I don’t know “for sure,” either, but my very strong suspicion is that most IM athletes have health insurance.
What I do know for sure is that if someone involved in IM racing doesn’t have health insurance, and feels that they need it, they have no business being involved in IM racing.
However, I always here that 1/3 of Americans don’t have access to decent healthcare.
I think what you usually hear, actually, is that 1/3 of Americans don’t have health insurance. Which is of course not the same thing as not having access to decent health care.
Not to get off on a tangent, but more for me to understand this better( I’m from Canada), if someone does not have health insurance and they, break their leg, or something serious, what do they do?
**if someone does not have health insurance and they, break their leg, or something serious, what do they do? **
They limp into the nearest emergency room and get it fixed. Boom! Access to decent health care.
Now, after they’ve accessed that health care, they’re going to find themselves gouged for payment, I grant you that. (Whether or not they pay is yet another question.)
Indeed, good sponsorship is hard to come by in this sport. It’s a lot tougher, to sell this and retain the business than people realize. I challenge anyone to go out and try and sell say, $10,000 or even service-in-kind sponsorship for a local event. You better have your act tohether. You better be ready to make a lot, and I mean a lot of calls and you better be ready for just about everyone you do end up talking to saying, “no thanks”.
Thanks. What am I to make of these stories of ambulances NOT being able to take injuried people to Emerg, because it’s the wrong ambulance service or of people having to go to several different Emergs to get looked at. Again there’ are stories, so I am looking for a bit of reality. In Canada, if I fall of my bike and break my leg, the police and ambulence are called via 911 and I am driven right away to the nearest emerg, admitted looked at and taken care of. No questions asked or money spent. Not saying it’s better here, just seems more seamless and accessable.
What am I to make of these stories of ambulances NOT being able to take injuried people to Emerg, because it’s the wrong ambulance service or of people having to go to several different Emergs to get looked at.
Don’t know. Maybe they’re old cases, maybe you only have one side of the story, maybe they’re just flat out outrageous abuses. Check here for the reality:
Likewise. The American medical system is a mess. I’m just saying it’s not really accurate that 1/3 of Americans don’t have access to health care. They’re just uninsured, which, while it might be a problem in itself, is not the same thing.
In an emergency a hospital has to help you. People with money will pay, others just default on the payment, which raises the insurance rates for those that have health insurance. Essentially we do have a national health care system, its just an amazingly goofy one.
But there is a limit to what they have to do before they can discharge you. You can’t walk into an emergency room with arthritis in your knee and leave with a knee replacement. If you walk in “feeling sick” they will likely run your blood sample and give you a prescription for some antibiotics, but it will be the minimum level of care. This is true even if you have health insurance in fact, it is just the nature of the emergency room, and is probably common in Canada and NZ as well. The difference is in those countries you can get on a waiting list for some more advanced care, you can’t do that here. Not that I am for public health care, just trying to clarify.
And, be careful about accepting rides in ambulances from the course to the hospital tent in a race. That ride is not covered by USAT insurance, you’ll pay big bucks. ------ This from a thread some time ago. Someone’s unhappy experience.
My recollection from IMW pre-race meeting last year is that ambulance ride from the course to IMNA med tent is free; transport (if necessary) to any other medical facility (hospital) will be billed to participant.