Motorcycle Helmet Bill Fails in Ark. Senate Committee
Texas / South Central News • February 14, 2007
Helmetless motorcyclists need not fear arrest in Arkansas unless the sponsor of a measure to require helmets decides he can muster the votes in the state Senate to remove his proposal from a ...
Insurance Journal is not responsible for the content of the message below.
Subject: RE: RE: Just because the law is there...
Posted On: February 14, 2007, 1:11 pm CST
Posted By: goldiron
Comment:
Without Helmet Laws Who Pays
Motorcyclists are a social burden. Insurance rates are going up. Everybody pays the price for non-helmeted motorcyclists. That's what we all hear. All this is what the public believes, because an agency of the government says so, it must be true! Ah, but is it true? Are motorcyclists a burden on society?
What is the reality of the social burden?
In 1992, the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center published a study titled: An Examination of Motorcyclist Injuries and Cost Using North Carolina Motor Vehicle Crash and Trauma Registry Data. The study revealed the following:
1. Motorcyclists admitted to trauma centers for treatment of crash related injuries were just as likely as other road trauma cases to be medically insured, and considerably better insured then non-road, cases.
2. Motorcyclists had the highest insurance payment rate of all groups.
3. Motorcyclists relied on Medicare and Medicaid considerably less than any other groups.
4. Motorcyclists had a higher rate of self-pay than any other group.
5. Motorcyclist average medical cost were less than other road trauma cases.
In summary of the North Carolina study, motorcyclists have lower medical bills from accidents, are better at paying with insurance, when they do not have insurance are better at paying with their own money, and rely on Medicare and Medicaid less than all other trauma victims. The National Center for Health Statistics has on its web page, http://www.cdc.gov/nchswww/default.htm and a connecting link to FASTATS A to Z. In this A to Z statistical Rolodex under the category of "Health Insurance Coverage" one of the quick facts is the Percent of Persons Under Age 65 Without Health Insurance: 16.5% (1995). The inverse of this statistical statement is the percent of persons under age 65 with health insurance would be 83.5%. The percentages of insured include coverage from private insurance and private insurance obtained through the work place, as well as Medicaid or other public assistance. If these percentages are to apply to all other segments of the U.S Population, they were drawn from; they should apply to motorcyclists as well.
What happens to the medical bills that are the actual social burden? The public assistance money such as Medicaid comes from tax dollars. The same tax dollars we all pay, not just those taxes paid by non-motorcyclists. Those motorcyclists who, for what ever the reason, may not have insurance at the time of their injury have worked at some point in time and paid into the 'public health care risk pool' through their taxes. Should motorcyclists be singled out and excluded from the public health risk pool we all pay into? Without helmet laws who pays? We all do. With helmet laws who pays? We all do. The point is motorcyclists are just as insured as everyone else. We participate in the motorcycle insurance risk pool with our premiums and the public insurance risk pool with our taxes. Any financial burden for injured motorcyclists is as it should be, paid for by motorcyclists themselves.
Subject: RE: RE: Just because the law is there...
Motorcyclists are a social burden. Insurance rates are going up. Everybody pays the price for non-helmeted motorcyclists. That's what we all hear. All this is what the public believes, because an agency of the government says so, it must be true! Ah, but is it true? Are motorcyclists a burden on society?
What is the reality of the social burden?
In 1992, the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center published a study titled: An Examination of Motorcyclist Injuries and Cost Using North Carolina Motor Vehicle Crash and Trauma Registry Data. The study revealed the following:
1. Motorcyclists admitted to trauma centers for treatment of crash related injuries were just as likely as other road trauma cases to be medically insured, and considerably better insured then non-road, cases.
2. Motorcyclists had the highest insurance payment rate of all groups.
3. Motorcyclists relied on Medicare and Medicaid considerably less than any other groups.
4. Motorcyclists had a higher rate of self-pay than any other group.
5. Motorcyclist average medical cost were less than other road trauma cases.
In summary of the North Carolina study, motorcyclists have lower medical bills from accidents, are better at paying with insurance, when they do not have insurance are better at paying with their own money, and rely on Medicare and Medicaid less than all other trauma victims. The National Center for Health Statistics has on its web page, http://www.cdc.gov/nchswww/default.htm and a connecting link to FASTATS A to Z. In this A to Z statistical Rolodex under the category of "Health Insurance Coverage" one of the quick facts is the Percent of Persons Under Age 65 Without Health Insurance: 16.5% (1995). The inverse of this statistical statement is the percent of persons under age 65 with health insurance would be 83.5%. The percentages of insured include coverage from private insurance and private insurance obtained through the work place, as well as Medicaid or other public assistance. If these percentages are to apply to all other segments of the U.S Population, they were drawn from; they should apply to motorcyclists as well.
What happens to the medical bills that are the actual social burden? The public assistance money such as Medicaid comes from tax dollars. The same tax dollars we all pay, not just those taxes paid by non-motorcyclists. Those motorcyclists who, for what ever the reason, may not have insurance at the time of their injury have worked at some point in time and paid into the 'public health care risk pool' through their taxes. Should motorcyclists be singled out and excluded from the public health risk pool we all pay into? Without helmet laws who pays? We all do. With helmet laws who pays? We all do. The point is motorcyclists are just as insured as everyone else. We participate in the motorcycle insurance risk pool with our premiums and the public insurance risk pool with our taxes. Any financial burden for injured motorcyclists is as it should be, paid for by motorcyclists themselves.