Post by poppaeagle on Dec 7, 2006 1:55:09 GMT -6
"Thank goodness we had the insurance in place and properly documented that the American Legion Baseball program offered."
I have said this to myself several times over the past few months.
In working with the American Legion baseball program for several seasons, the insurance has always been one of the first things taken care before the season ever starts and before the first practice takes place. Now I am realizing why that is so important.
I know a lot of people who read this board are very involved in baseball and many participate on "travel teams" . Some of these teams are through Babe Ruth, USSSA, AAU, or Super Series and some of these teams may be just "put together" and go and play a few tournaments and have some fun. Some may be to take your league team and go play in a tournament.
PoppaEagle would like to pass along some thoughts for coaches and parents to consider as you travel to those weekend tournaments. Coaches.... as you put together a team or parents....as you sign up for a team....have an understanding of who would be responsible and what insurance would be in place if a player or coach were to get hurt on the field or even in route to the game.
If you are participating on a league or a league sanctioned tournament, this is pretty much taken care of by the insurance carried by the league. But it doesn't hurt to ask. Most parents also have insurance on their kids as offered by GP, Bemis, or whatever place of employment. For whatever reason...there are some parents who may not have insurance on their children.
Sometimes you have to be employed for a certain length of time (even at GP) before any dependents can be covered.
Case in point.... an 18 year old player is pitching in a district American Legion Tournament and takes a direct shot to the face by a line drive, very hard hit baseball. The sight and even the sound of that is still vivid in my memory. This isn't just an injury, this is a "situation"...life threatening. The ambulance is immediately summoned and the player is carried to the local hospital.
The parents are not at the game but a grandparent is. All the medical forms and properly documented information is in a three ring binder and is carried to the emergency room receptionist as well as a signed medical release form stating medical attention could be given to the injured player. The grandparent that was present came into the reception office and also signed a medical release stating treatment for the injured player could begin. The parents were in route....but it would be over 2 hours before they would arrive at the hospital. Please note: The hospital did not begin any type of treatment until the parents arrived and signed the documentation at the hospital themselves. The hospital was also waiting for x-rays to be read by electronic imaging sent to Little Rock. In the mean time, the player (whose cheek bones were fractured from ear to ear and whose mouth roof was cracked, filled up 4 hospital pails of blood and gunk while still in a nasty baseball uniform.
I am not faulting the local hospital as I think there would have probably been similar procedures at a lot of health care facilities. The point is....even with proper documentation, aggressive treatment did not begin until the parents arrived at the hospital and personally signed the hospital papers.
After discussion with the attending doctor, at about daylight the next morning, the parents sent the player to Children's Hospital in Little Rock via ambulance.
Now......months later...several trips back to Children's Hospital, the dentist, the orthodontist, the oral surgeon, ENT specialist, the eye doctor, and others. The player is about back to 100%.
Do I even have to tell you the thousands of dollars involved in the mentioned treatments. Yes, the insurance has paid a tremendous amount......and yes the hospitals have cooperated to a certain degree on the "out of pocket" expenses that are left for the parents (or somebody) to pay. Due to recent job changes and the fact that this is an 18 year old player, the parents had no other insurance besides what was offered by the American Legion program. This is where I go back to the first line of this thread ....
"Thank goodness we had the insurance in place and properly documented that the American Legion Baseball program offered."
All this being said....here is what has been learned from this experience that I think would be worthy to pass on:
*For travel or "put together" teams, consider who would be responsible in the event the player's parents don't have coverage on the child.
*Don't be afraid to ask a local hospital to transfer your child to another hospital if you aren't familiar or feel comfortable with the current facility.
*Make sure you have signed (even notarized) medical releases, the proper insurance forms & documentation on hand in case of an injury. This could on the field and even in a car wreck going to the game. A three ring binder with pockets comes in handy for this.
*Make sure you have emergency contact numbers for all the player's parents, especially cell phone numbers.
*Be aggressive on following up with the insurance company on the situation.
*If you are a coach or league official, due to the privacy act and HIPAA, the parents will have to sign documentation to include you in the "info circle", before hospitals or doctors will discuss any of this information with you.
*Don't be afraid to ask hospitals, etc. to discount or even "write-off" any charges that may be considered the responsibility (out of pocket expenses) for the parents.
* I did learn there are caring people in the medical profession and involved in baseball. Note: The coaches from Camden who were heading up that district tournament stayed at the hospital until well after daylight the next morning making sure this player was OK before they would ever leave.
PoppaEagle hopes this will help others who are in similar situations. I just know it is December and this has been an ongoing process since July. This has been quite an ordeal but it would have been a huge, expensive mess if the insurance would not have been in place.
I have said this to myself several times over the past few months.
In working with the American Legion baseball program for several seasons, the insurance has always been one of the first things taken care before the season ever starts and before the first practice takes place. Now I am realizing why that is so important.
I know a lot of people who read this board are very involved in baseball and many participate on "travel teams" . Some of these teams are through Babe Ruth, USSSA, AAU, or Super Series and some of these teams may be just "put together" and go and play a few tournaments and have some fun. Some may be to take your league team and go play in a tournament.
PoppaEagle would like to pass along some thoughts for coaches and parents to consider as you travel to those weekend tournaments. Coaches.... as you put together a team or parents....as you sign up for a team....have an understanding of who would be responsible and what insurance would be in place if a player or coach were to get hurt on the field or even in route to the game.
If you are participating on a league or a league sanctioned tournament, this is pretty much taken care of by the insurance carried by the league. But it doesn't hurt to ask. Most parents also have insurance on their kids as offered by GP, Bemis, or whatever place of employment. For whatever reason...there are some parents who may not have insurance on their children.
Sometimes you have to be employed for a certain length of time (even at GP) before any dependents can be covered.
Case in point.... an 18 year old player is pitching in a district American Legion Tournament and takes a direct shot to the face by a line drive, very hard hit baseball. The sight and even the sound of that is still vivid in my memory. This isn't just an injury, this is a "situation"...life threatening. The ambulance is immediately summoned and the player is carried to the local hospital.
The parents are not at the game but a grandparent is. All the medical forms and properly documented information is in a three ring binder and is carried to the emergency room receptionist as well as a signed medical release form stating medical attention could be given to the injured player. The grandparent that was present came into the reception office and also signed a medical release stating treatment for the injured player could begin. The parents were in route....but it would be over 2 hours before they would arrive at the hospital. Please note: The hospital did not begin any type of treatment until the parents arrived and signed the documentation at the hospital themselves. The hospital was also waiting for x-rays to be read by electronic imaging sent to Little Rock. In the mean time, the player (whose cheek bones were fractured from ear to ear and whose mouth roof was cracked, filled up 4 hospital pails of blood and gunk while still in a nasty baseball uniform.
I am not faulting the local hospital as I think there would have probably been similar procedures at a lot of health care facilities. The point is....even with proper documentation, aggressive treatment did not begin until the parents arrived at the hospital and personally signed the hospital papers.
After discussion with the attending doctor, at about daylight the next morning, the parents sent the player to Children's Hospital in Little Rock via ambulance.
Now......months later...several trips back to Children's Hospital, the dentist, the orthodontist, the oral surgeon, ENT specialist, the eye doctor, and others. The player is about back to 100%.
Do I even have to tell you the thousands of dollars involved in the mentioned treatments. Yes, the insurance has paid a tremendous amount......and yes the hospitals have cooperated to a certain degree on the "out of pocket" expenses that are left for the parents (or somebody) to pay. Due to recent job changes and the fact that this is an 18 year old player, the parents had no other insurance besides what was offered by the American Legion program. This is where I go back to the first line of this thread ....
"Thank goodness we had the insurance in place and properly documented that the American Legion Baseball program offered."
All this being said....here is what has been learned from this experience that I think would be worthy to pass on:
*For travel or "put together" teams, consider who would be responsible in the event the player's parents don't have coverage on the child.
*Don't be afraid to ask a local hospital to transfer your child to another hospital if you aren't familiar or feel comfortable with the current facility.
*Make sure you have signed (even notarized) medical releases, the proper insurance forms & documentation on hand in case of an injury. This could on the field and even in a car wreck going to the game. A three ring binder with pockets comes in handy for this.
*Make sure you have emergency contact numbers for all the player's parents, especially cell phone numbers.
*Be aggressive on following up with the insurance company on the situation.
*If you are a coach or league official, due to the privacy act and HIPAA, the parents will have to sign documentation to include you in the "info circle", before hospitals or doctors will discuss any of this information with you.
*Don't be afraid to ask hospitals, etc. to discount or even "write-off" any charges that may be considered the responsibility (out of pocket expenses) for the parents.
* I did learn there are caring people in the medical profession and involved in baseball. Note: The coaches from Camden who were heading up that district tournament stayed at the hospital until well after daylight the next morning making sure this player was OK before they would ever leave.
PoppaEagle hopes this will help others who are in similar situations. I just know it is December and this has been an ongoing process since July. This has been quite an ordeal but it would have been a huge, expensive mess if the insurance would not have been in place.