SIA and OIA pushing bills to solve HIPAA sport exclusion
A bill has been introduced in the Senate (S. 423) and one will soon be introduced in the House that will reverse a HIPAA clause with the goal of prohibiting exclusion from health benefits based on one's chosen sport or activity.
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In 2001, a federal regulation adopted under HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability Accountability Act 1996) stated that individuals injured while participating in activities such as skiing, snowboarding, horseback riding, motorcycling, etc., could potentially be denied health-care benefits under group health plans.
A bill has been introduced in the Senate (S. 423) and one will soon be introduced in the House that will reverse the clause with the goal of prohibiting exclusion from health benefits based on one’s chosen sport or activity.
SIA (Snow Sports Industries Association) has been working hard with the motorcycling groups to push these bills and has sample letters ready to be downloaded to company letterhead to send to individual congressional representatives. For more information, email Mary Cecile Neville at mcneville@snowsports.org.
For its part OIA (Outdoor Industry Association) has been working directly with Senate and House sponsors to ensure that kayaking and climbing are added to the “illustrative list” — a list of activities written into legislation and given as examples of activities not affected by the rule.
