New Federal Insurance Regulations for Recreational Activities (Long but URGENT)

["guest@endurance.net" <guest@endurance.net>]

Dave Bennett mdbennett@tva.gov
I picked the following article up on another mailing that I get.  It is aimed at motorcyclists
but applies to endurance riders as well.  The new regulations could have very bad impact 
on horseback riding.  Anyone who has had an insurance company try to subrogate their medical 
costs after a riding injury knows how this would be used to deny claims.

New Federal Rules Legalize Health Insurance Discrimination 

January 9, 2001
Washington, DC -Motorcyclists and others involved in recreational activities could be left without 
vital health-care coverage as a result of new regulations released by a group of federal agencies, 
reports the American Motorcyclist Association. Ironically, the rules, written in response to federal 
legislation banning health-insurance discrimination, could end up having precisely the opposite 
effect. The new regulations, issued jointly by three federal agencies, are the culmination of a 
rulemaking process that has dragged on for nearly five years since Congress passed the Health 
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. And, the AMA notes, the final version of 
the regulations appears to directly contradict the will of Congress in passing that law. 

The purpose of the original legislation was to protect workers from discrimination in the health 
insurance they receive through their employers. 
Remember not too many years ago that dolt Ruger, the gun manufacturer who rejected 
his employee health insurance claims when riding a motorcycle legally?

As written by Congress, the bill would have prohibited employers from denying health coverage 
based on a worker's pre-existing medical conditions or participation in legal recreational 
activities. The official language in the Congressional Record from that time noted that the law 
"is intended to ensure, among other things, that individuals are not excluded from health-care 
coverage due to their participation in activities such as motorcycling, snowmobiling, all-terrain 
vehicle riding, horseback riding, skiing and other similar activities." 

The AMA worked hard to get that language included in the Congressional Record after uncovering 
incidents in which employers were discriminating against motorcyclists, leaving them without 
coverage anytime they were involved in recreational pursuits. The AMA noted that the cases of 
discrimination it had uncovered extended health-care protection to employees involved in illegal 
activities, like driving a car while drunk, but cut them off from many legal activities. 

Since the passage of the original bill, the AMA has repeatedly called on the federal agencies 
involved, the Internal Revenue Service, the Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration, and
 the Health Care Finance Administration, to release the regulations that would govern 
enforcement of the law. The agencies delayed the process until the closing days of the
 Clinton administration, finally releasing regulations on January 5. 

The new regulations at first state that an employer cannot refuse health-care coverage to an 
employee on the basis of participation in recreational activities. But, they go on to say that 
health-care benefits can be denied for injuries sustained in connection with those recreational 
activities. "To say that an employer can't deny health-care coverage to motorcyclists, but can 
deny coverage of any injury related to motorcycling makes this entire law meaningless," said 
Ed Moreland, the AMA's vice president of government relations. "Instead of creating a law 
specifically ending health-care discrimination, as Congress intended, these agencies have 
legalized discrimination. 

"These rules open the door to the elimination of health coverage for all types of legal 
recreational activities, from motorcycle riding to running or walking. That's the exact 
opposite of what Congress had in mind." 

The AMA is urging all motorcyclists, and those involved in any other type of recreational 
activity, to protest these regulations during a public-comment period that remains open 
through April 9. However, the AMA notes that by the time comments are sent in, the new 
Bush administration will be taking charge in Washington, meaning that different officials 
may be in charge at these agencies. "We believe that the change of administrations in 
Washington gives us a chance to appeal this arbitrary set of regulations," said Moreland.
 "We are in a position to ask new administrators to undo the mistakes of their predecessors." 

Comments can be sent to the following three agencies. Comments sent by regular mail should 
include a signed original and three copies. E-mail comments do not require multiple copies. 

Internal Revenue Service PO Box 7604 Ben Franklin Station Washington, DC 20044 
www.irs.gov/tax_regs/regslist.html 
U.S. Department of Labor Pension and Welfare Benefits Administrat
ion Attn: Non-Discrimination Comments 200 Constitution Ave. NW Room C-5331 Washington, DC 20210 

e-mail: HIPAA702@pwba.dol.gov 

Health Care Financing Administration Department of Health and Human Services Attn: HCFA-2022-IFC PO Box 26688 Baltimore, MD 21207