Action Sports: A Thorny Issue
For as long as human beings have known that diving off tall buildings, racing down ski-slopes, and hurling themselves down concrete stairs on boards with wheels is actually very, very fun, the problem of health care has been quietly awaiting to tap those who come short on the shoulder and say, “Hey, sorry to tell you this right now, what with you being in agonizing pain and all that–but you’re sort of going to need to pay if you want to be able to walk again–OK?” It’s a question which every country has a different answer to: should those who deliberately put themselves at risk be able to get health care for free? Or should, in fact, they have to pay even more than someone who gets sick through no fault of their own?
This seemingly basic question is further complicated by the attitudes of smoking and statistics in various cultures; what seems bizarre is that people who get cancer as a result of smoking sometimes receive help for free—depending on the country—whereas those who do dangerous sports professionally, as in the U.S., are forced to pay a substantially higher premium because they are willingly putting themselves at risk. So I find myself asking: is someone who smoked passively for thirty years—or worked in a risky dust-filled environment—any different? Could they not have walked away from that job well before incurring any such devastating illness? Surely, by continuing that job they are allowing this to happen. In the case of those who do action sports professionally, shouldn’t the fact that this is how they make their living mean that they can be categorized in the same box as intrepid explorers or Hollywood stunt-men? But there is the difference. A Hollywood stunt-man is looked upon as that much more important. No stunts, no film. Maybe this is why those participating in action sports are looked down upon by insurers: they are considered to be not giving enough—although this seems ridiculous also, considering the vast sums of cash they generate for their sponsors, worldwide.
Vaction planning: The designs to take a camping caravan along the south coast are in the works! Although we do need to look into getting some Touring caravan insurance, I am handing this to June…