Anatomy of a crash.....for the self-insured

[Brian]

Backstory: I resigned recently from a 21-year career in homebuilding. I will eventually find other work that is more fun and less stressful. I am 59 and am financially able to retire, if wanted, and could go on the beloved ObamaCare till I turn 65. Or get coverage soon with a new employer.

In the meantime, I have elected not to continue my employer health insurance, and the $11.5k in annual premiums and deductibles, through the COBRA program (in US, employers must allow former employees to get 18 months of insurance as long as they pay the entire premium). I am in good health and have never used my insurance in 21 years. Taking a chance, I know, but I can self-insure for now.

The main concern is that I operate a motorcycle on occasion. Statistically, right now, that activity is the most hazardous my health is in right now. I don't anticipate a serious self induced crash and feel that if I crash, will likely to get hit by another driver. In that case, I am assuming their insurance would cover my health, with or without the assistance of a lawyer.

I am an alert and safe bike rider....not too aggressive....looking 12 seconds ahead....looking for the turning wheels and spinning lug nuts of those wanting to pull out or turn left in front of me.

Thoughts on how stupid I am?

[1moreroad]

Something like 50% of bankruptcies are due to medical bills. An uncomplicated ER bill can run $5k. You can not self insure for a bad wreck - it's too expensive. I'd be looking at some level of care thru the ACA or COBRA or your spouse if you have one. You don't have to sign up for COBRA right away but I don't know the deadline.

 

Also, do you mean you haven't used insurance for a hospital visit or ever? I'd recommend regular checkups for your own safety. 

[maximo]

I'd look at minimum at catastrophic care. Sounds like you could absorb $10k in med bills, but if you got t-boned and you had to be in the hospital for a few days to insert a titanium rod, how would you pay for the $500k in bills? There's your bankruptcy right there. It's a huge gamble. My own risk tolerance would be too low for that.  

[nhchris]

I'll echo what's said above.  It takes only a slightly injurious event to end up with a huge medical bill.

Motorcycling is for most of us the MOST risky thing we do.  In addition, since Covid cage drivers seem more distracted, aggressive, speed-prone and intolerant than before, upping the anti for all us riders.

Get some type of coverage. Cobra is crazy expensive so I'd look elsewhere for catastrophic or the Democrat alternative (thanks Barach!).

Since you are sooo close to retirement why risk a financial setback now?  You're runway to leisure is short.

[duckie]

Not to have insurance is not good at all. You are assuming a motorcycle only incident and not considerating a life incident. 

Go read stroke thread in firechat. 

[tclhb]

A short story to emphasize the why risk it now thought. I have a friend that retired right before I did. He paid off his house which meant he didn’t have to carry insurance on the house anymore. He dropped the insurance since he was selling soon to move out of state. A short while later we had a big fire here called The Bobcat Fire and burned his house to the ground. He lost nearly everything except a small storage shed that was filled with some belongings. 

[Brian]

Good info. I think I just need to stop napping with the dog and get a job with benefits for 5 more years.

Answering questions....in 21 years I have had no medical issues requiring treatment and only a dozen or less doctor office visits. Before I resigned, I got a colonoscopy, full body cancer screening and major dental work.

I am well aware of the high cost of major medical. My 20-something son incurred $2+million in medical bills when his pancreas exploded and almost killed him a few years ago. He was uninsured and all was apparently written off by hospitals/doctors.

I guess my question is......will a motorcycle crash be likely to be caused by a distracted cager and my medical bills be covered by their insurance?

[kilo3]

The three major factors in motorcycle crashes are excessive speed, intoxication, and nightime driving.
It's harder to gleam fault from national statistics.  Personally i avoid the drinking and nighttime driving, 2 outta 3 aint bad lol.

[YamaGeezer]

I'll add a personal statistic.  My family has been in 3 accidents over the last 10 years, all the other person's fault.  2 of 3 did not have insurance as required in this state.  Assuming others will do the right thing is the biggest risk you will take. 

Ride Safe -   

[PhotoAl]

From a risk perspective it is a major risk.  IMO insurance is for the Black Swan or HILP (High Impact Low Probability) events.  Having insurance even just major medical with a large deductible will help on the smaller items as you will get the insurance price.  I see you are in North Mississippi, my daughter has a Blue Cross Blue Shield policy which has a high deductible and doesn't cover a lot but we can afford the small stuff.  It's the big stuff that she has it for.  

6 years ago I had a scooter wreck on the Island of Capri.  I've ridden the Amalfi Coast 4 times on a scooter and on Capri one time prior to that.  Well that time I dodged a bus which was swinging wide to make a hairpin turn.  Wound up clipping the right bar on a rock wall at maybe 15 MPH.  Concussion, cuts, scrapes, sprained big toe AND a shattered kneecap.  All at 15MPH.  Rode in the worlds tiniest ambulance to the nearby hospital where they treated me before sending me to Sorrento to see an orthopedic doc.  Wound up flying back and having surgery by a great surgeon at home.  No idea how much the cost was but probably close to $100,000 by the time the cost of rehab was added in.  My son finished residency less almost a year ago and now works in a family practice clinic nearby.  few months ago a fella came in needing to have a cut on his hand sewed up.  The other doctors were not comfortable doing it.  My son was used to it from his residency and sewed the fella up.  Otherwise he would have had to go to the ER which gets very expensive.

As for the drivers on the road, how many of them even have a license?  How many have insurance?  Even those with insurance may not have enough coverage.  Few years back a friend bought a new car, 10 minutes later at a traffic light a pickup rear ended the car behind him.  The car behind him was totaled and his new car had several thousand dollars in damages.  The pickup drivers insurance did not cover the damage to the cars!  In todays litigious society insurance is a must for vehicles and health.

[PhotoAl]

forgot to say congratulations on your retirement.  I retired at 63 and it was the best thing I've done.  The ability to do mostly what I want, spend time with the grandkids, take long solo motorcycle trips, etc is priceless.

My wife does not ride with me even around the block so when she is painting (artist) I will take a trip.

[peteinpa]

All you have to do is watch YouTube.  Car wrecks into others then takes off because no license, insurance, illegal allien, etc. There you are lying on the pavement going WTH.

[1moreroad]

18 hours ago, Brian said:

He was uninsured and all was apparently written off by hospitals/doctors.

I guess my question is......will a motorcycle crash be likely to be caused by a distracted cager and my medical bills be covered by their insurance?

I'm glad he made it. I have coworkers who will be making payments on medical debt for the rest of their lives because the Dr discounted but did not write off the cost.

The 2nd quoted paragraph makes a lot of assumptions - 1. That the LEO sees the accident the same way you do and holds the other driver responsible, 2. They have sufficient insurance to cover major medical costs, 3. The insurance pays off in a reasonable time and doesn't tie everything up for years leaving you on the hook in the meantime. 

It's up to you. It's not a risk I would take. Like has been said above, a high deductible policy will be less expensive now but cover the really bad crash. 

[maximo]

20 hours ago, Brian said:

I guess my question is......will a motorcycle crash be likely to be caused by a distracted cager and my medical bills be covered by their insurance?

When you have insurance, part of what you buy is the legal team that would defend you on your behalf. The distracted cager can be 100% at fault, and assuming he's insured, his insurance would see that you're uninsured, and therefore not likely able to afford costly litigation, they would immediately do a study that would find you some percentage at fault (say, going 39 mph in a 35 zone, or that you were not wearing sufficiently protective gear, or that you had a beer or allergy meds the night before).  Now you're looking at either defending yourself in court (which is what they hope, because they're experts at getting the jury to swing their way), or for you to talk to an attorney who would charge you $100k just to get in the game, and based on that, they'd corner you to a settlement that you agree to pay everything short of bankruptcy. 

I did subrogation for a big insurance company for a few years, so I've played this game myself a time or two. 

Another consideration is policy limits the OP carries. If they carry $50k and your bills are $500k, they'll happily pay their amount, and you're stuck with the $450k. You'll likely need to sue the driver personally for it, which once again it is out of pocket costs, time, and a gamble whether you can even collect if you win the suit. 

[2NDCHILDHOOD]

22 hours ago, kilo3 said:

The three major factors in motorcycle crashes are excessive speed, intoxication, and nightime driving.
It's harder to gleam fault from national statistics.  Personally i avoid the drinking and nighttime driving, 2 outta 3 aint bad lol.

Those are certainly major factors but you also have to consider all of the other ways one can go down without those or another vehicle coming into play.

Last year I came around a sweeping curve at the posted speed of 45mph. There were brush and trees on both sides of the road. A deer ran out in front of me so fast that I instinctively turned the bike to avoid him. In doing so the bike went into the ditch that hugged the edge of the asphalt. The front wheel turned and dug in and I was unceremoniously removed from my seat. Fortunately I managed to miss the trees during my dismount but I did injure my knee. I was lucky the knee was only badly bruised and sprained and did not require surgery. I did have medical insurance so my out of pocket was only about a grand. I still think about how quickly that happened and the fact that that could have been much worse if I had hit a tree at even that modest speed. The medical bills probably would have been astronomical and without insurance I would most likely be in the poor house today.

Just offering up some experience...