I've been wondering too long...

[racing#s]

I've been racing since '90. The other day my wife asked me a great question. She said, "What happens if you get badly hurt in a race ?" I never thought about it before. What, if any coverage do we have when we're racing ? Does anyone know how much we're covered for medically ?

[RGeeProductions]

It's all in the paperwork you sign to get your license.....

[racerwife]

Regardless of what you Nascar license entitles you to for medical... You live on Long Island where it is terribly expensive to live. You better have some idea of how to pay your bills if you are really injured. Your own private health insurance isn't a bad idea either with the cost of things now. It doesn't take much to go through thousands of dollars of medical coverage and still be in need of medical help.
A rule of thumb is a 3 month savings account put away just to cover your basic bills of home, food, car payments... after that good luck. That in todays prices is quite a bit of money you hope to never have to use!!!

[Tower Man]

I wasn't going to touch this, but I can tell you first hand. When I got injured in 1996, the medical bills were over a half million dollars. NOT ONE DIME out of pocket.

This is what you need to do. First, report it immediatly to the ambulance and have them fill out a report. Contact NASCAR on Monday AM and report it and they will give you a claim number. DO NOT CALL THE TRACK OFFICE.

Your personal insurance pays first. NASCAR pays the balance. Co-pays, deductables and ANY out of pocket expenses. I collected for 3 years.

The key here, is once you compete, the coverage ends. Follow up with NASCAR and advise any caregiver that you have secondary coverage with NASCAR. NASCAR will forward a letter on you behalf.

[Tower Man]

One more thing, file for New York State disability if you cannot work.

[racerwife]

Ok. I've got to ask... Did Nascar pay all of your personal bills too??? Mortgage, car payments, food, etc... or was this left to NYS disability??? I don't know about you but I was on NYS Dis. for awhile. It didn't touch what my monthly expenses were. I was hurt at work though so maybe that has something to do with it. Regardless, it doesn't hurt to have money in the bank till the checks start to roll in.

[Tower Man]

Lucky for me, my day job paid my full salary. I have unlimited sick days. I was out 12 weeks. NASCAR paid $60 per week, plus S.A.F.E.R. paid $60 per week for a short period as well.

If you do not have that kind of sick time, you may need to look into a disability policy from your insurance carrier. They even have plans for people who are hospiatlized that cover the mortgage.

Remember, you could get hurt falling down the stairs in your own home. What would you do then?