A'sFan
Fred 'ReRun' Stubbs
Dear fellow racers,
I believe that I was the last racer from AFM to get the "premium travel" arrangements from the track to the hospital (Round 6/F1/Turn 8). I thought I would share with you my story since it might have a huge impact on you and your insurance.
In late June, I joined Cal-Star flight care for $40.00/year. At the time, their map showed all of of the areas of coverage and their reciprocal partners. For those of us who race AFM, we are principally concerned with both Enloe Hospital in Chico where T-Hill trauma victims go (Cal-Star is the aviation service that flies to Enloe) and Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital where the Infineon trauma victims go (Reach is the aviation service that flies to Santa Rosa Memorial). On their list of partners, Cal-star was listed as a reciprocal partner with Reach and visa-versa; likewise on the Reach website. In fact, the only reason I joined Cal-star v. Reach (since they were partners and they were the same price $40.00) was because the application process was more efficient at Cal-star so I chose them. At the time I figured it made no difference.
When I received my bill for my flight from Reach for service from Infineon to SRMH, I called Reach to alert them to the fact that I had Cal-star insurance and not to bill my insurance company (well I didn't really call them because I was in ICU, but my wife did.) I did not want to get stuck paying the deductable from Blue Shield when I was a member of the Cal-star program.
I was told by Reach that their reciprocation agreement with Cal-star had expired on June 9th and they were no longer partners. I called Cal-star and learned that I had joined Cal-star on June 23rd and indeed their partnership had expired on June 9th. I went back and reviewed the documents that were sent to me in the mail by Cal-star after I joined and sure enough, Reach was no longer listed as a partner.
I felt that I had a very strong argument to contest that since all of the marketing materials, including websites, leading up to my joining the program specifically listed one another as partners. Shame on me for not picking up in the fact that the list of partners had changed on the documents that they sent me AFTER I had joined. However, it is reasonable to assume that the list of partners that was in place when I joined would indeed be the same two weeks later when my paperwork arrived.
Ultimately I did not fight this because my medical insurance will pick up the tab. Since I have an annual cap on my deductible of $3K, flight or no flight, I am gonna pay the full $3K. So far my bills are nearly $350K and I have yet to go to acute rehab to relearn how to walk, which is over $10k/day...ouch. By the time I am fully recovered, my medical bills will eclipse $500K....thank god I have insurance!
I thought I would bring this to everyone's attention. If you are operating under the assumption that your Cal-star membership will cover you at Infineon or your Reach membership will cover you at T-Hill, you are in for a big surprise. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU JOIN BOTH REACH AND CAL-STAR SEPARATELY. For a minor $80 you are covered no matter which track you fall down at.
Truthfully, I might have made a huge oversight and this might have been all my fault. However, I am not an idiot and I figure if something like this could happen to me it could happen to other AFMers. You might want to revisit your documents and make sure you are covered at both tracks. And if you don't have coverage, may I remind you that the "premium travel" from Infineon to SRMH is $26K for 15 minutes of flight time these days. So perhaps you should forgo that carbon fiber fender and join both programs.
I never thought that I would need to be life-flighted. In fact, as many of you know from my BARF posts, I was going to leave directly after my F-1 race to go on vacation to a family reunion. We as racers frequently forget about the worst case scenario and the fact that they can happen to any one of us. I encourage you all, speaking from personal experience, to be prepared. $80 is nothing compared to a $26K.
All the best,
Jamie Keating AFM #165
I believe that I was the last racer from AFM to get the "premium travel" arrangements from the track to the hospital (Round 6/F1/Turn 8). I thought I would share with you my story since it might have a huge impact on you and your insurance.
In late June, I joined Cal-Star flight care for $40.00/year. At the time, their map showed all of of the areas of coverage and their reciprocal partners. For those of us who race AFM, we are principally concerned with both Enloe Hospital in Chico where T-Hill trauma victims go (Cal-Star is the aviation service that flies to Enloe) and Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital where the Infineon trauma victims go (Reach is the aviation service that flies to Santa Rosa Memorial). On their list of partners, Cal-star was listed as a reciprocal partner with Reach and visa-versa; likewise on the Reach website. In fact, the only reason I joined Cal-star v. Reach (since they were partners and they were the same price $40.00) was because the application process was more efficient at Cal-star so I chose them. At the time I figured it made no difference.
When I received my bill for my flight from Reach for service from Infineon to SRMH, I called Reach to alert them to the fact that I had Cal-star insurance and not to bill my insurance company (well I didn't really call them because I was in ICU, but my wife did.) I did not want to get stuck paying the deductable from Blue Shield when I was a member of the Cal-star program.
I was told by Reach that their reciprocation agreement with Cal-star had expired on June 9th and they were no longer partners. I called Cal-star and learned that I had joined Cal-star on June 23rd and indeed their partnership had expired on June 9th. I went back and reviewed the documents that were sent to me in the mail by Cal-star after I joined and sure enough, Reach was no longer listed as a partner.
I felt that I had a very strong argument to contest that since all of the marketing materials, including websites, leading up to my joining the program specifically listed one another as partners. Shame on me for not picking up in the fact that the list of partners had changed on the documents that they sent me AFTER I had joined. However, it is reasonable to assume that the list of partners that was in place when I joined would indeed be the same two weeks later when my paperwork arrived.
Ultimately I did not fight this because my medical insurance will pick up the tab. Since I have an annual cap on my deductible of $3K, flight or no flight, I am gonna pay the full $3K. So far my bills are nearly $350K and I have yet to go to acute rehab to relearn how to walk, which is over $10k/day...ouch. By the time I am fully recovered, my medical bills will eclipse $500K....thank god I have insurance!
I thought I would bring this to everyone's attention. If you are operating under the assumption that your Cal-star membership will cover you at Infineon or your Reach membership will cover you at T-Hill, you are in for a big surprise. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU JOIN BOTH REACH AND CAL-STAR SEPARATELY. For a minor $80 you are covered no matter which track you fall down at.
Truthfully, I might have made a huge oversight and this might have been all my fault. However, I am not an idiot and I figure if something like this could happen to me it could happen to other AFMers. You might want to revisit your documents and make sure you are covered at both tracks. And if you don't have coverage, may I remind you that the "premium travel" from Infineon to SRMH is $26K for 15 minutes of flight time these days. So perhaps you should forgo that carbon fiber fender and join both programs.
I never thought that I would need to be life-flighted. In fact, as many of you know from my BARF posts, I was going to leave directly after my F-1 race to go on vacation to a family reunion. We as racers frequently forget about the worst case scenario and the fact that they can happen to any one of us. I encourage you all, speaking from personal experience, to be prepared. $80 is nothing compared to a $26K.
All the best,
Jamie Keating AFM #165
