For Cyclists, Health Insurance Is Not Enough
Cycling is incredible. There’s nothing like riding miles and miles with your friends through America’s beautiful cities, towns, and countryside. And cycling is great for you, too. It’s good exercise, builds lifelong friendships, is good for the environment, and so many wonderful things. Every day is better with a bike ride.
But, as cyclists, we know that crashes happen. That’s why cyclists emphasize safety so much. Usually, it’s fine – just scrapes, bruises, and a wounded sense of pride. But sometimes, it’s not. And when it’s not, cyclists do what any community would do – come together to support each other. Often, that takes the form of a fundraiser. But what happens at a fundraiser? We raise a few thousand dollars – which is great – but it isn’t enough. That’s why we like to say that, for cyclists, health insurance is not enough.
Why? There are two reasons.
First, health insurance only pays for medical expenses. That’s what it’s designed to do. But a serious crash can have many costs health insurance won’t cover. You might, for example need to travel for specialized medical treatment or a special vehicle for transit. Income can be a struggle, too. You may not be able to work at all and – complicating matters further – your spouse or other loved ones may have to quit their jobs to care for you. Hopefully, anyone who suffers a life-altering crash has disability insurance; but even that isn’t enough. Disability insurance only lasts for a set amount of time, and typically only pays 60 percent of a person’s income.
Second, if you’re like most Americans, your health insurance requires a deductible and co-insurance. That’s money you must pay before your insurance pays your medical expenses. For an individual, a deductible and co-insurance likely costs around $3,000 and often much more. With family coverage, it can run to $6,000 or more. That’s a lot of money. Most Americans don’t have that kind of cash available, even in an emergency. But $6,000 is a drop in the bucket if you need serious medical treatment.
That’s why we built Balance for Cyclists. Balance is personal accident insurance built to protect cyclists and their families from the financial consequences of accidents. It’s like a helmet for your wallet.Balance got its start after one of our cycling friends essentially said, “too many of us have bad accidents. We hold fund raisers, and we raise $2,000. Isn’t this something insurance can do better?”
It is. And it’s likely different than any insurance you’ve had.
Balance for Cyclists is supplemental insurance. That means Balance pays cash to you, regardless of what your other insurance does.
Here’s how Balance works: Let’s say you buy 1 unit of coverage. That’s $50,000 of coverage.
If you suffer a traumatic brain injury, paralysis, lose a limb, or die in a covered accident, we’ll pay you (or your beneficiaries) up to $50,000. That money is yours, and you can spend it how you wish.
If you suffer less severe injuries requiring emergency room care, hospitalization, an ambulance trip, or physical therapy, we offer cash to help you with those expenses, too.
If you want more coverage, it’s available. You can buy $100,000 or $150,000 of coverage.
We want to see every American cyclist enjoying cycling with greater peace of mind. Balance for Cyclists provides affordable and unique personal accident insurance for cyclists. If you want to learn more, start at our homepage. Ride Smart.