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I hope this doesn't upset people but Im genuinely curious about the attitudes of most Base jumpers towards health insurance and its applicability and accessibility to our sport. (mainly in the US where it is not as straightforward as in Europe). Not directed at any one single incident or individual or upon anyones character but it seems year after year there are incidents where someone is severely hurt and does not have coverage requiring support from the community to ameliorate the situation. (support which is usually kind and generous and says a lot about the community.) However, it seems that people and courses spend so much time on their EPs and preventing injury and glide over having safeguards and security measures if that unfortunate event does occur. Are you insured, will you miss work, do you have enough saved to not work for months on end, etc... What to do after you've gotten fucked up. Its a reality and no one talks about it.

So the disconnect I have is... for most base jumpers in the US what is the reason for not having coverage? Cost, exclusionary policies, trust in the system? I know a large amount of the community enjoys the sport on a limited budget but I think insurance should be factored into that cost and if you cant afford insurance or supporting yourself if you are injured you really cant afford to base jump. Im just trying to understand the reason for such a comprehensive lack of coverage across the sport.

I mentioned this to a couple friends and one person said "its about the community coming together to support one person who got hurt." Which I understand the sentiment. But isn't that exactly what insurance is? Everyone paying in to support incidents.

Im afraid this entire thing came off very negative. I donate to these fundraisers and this post is not to deter from that. I care about these people and they are generally amazing individuals, Im just trying to find out why its such a common thing and how to make it more preventable.

Almost all US (resident) insurance covers BASE accidents. Most of the exclusions are for things like injuries incurred while committing a felony. That rarely excludes BASE.

Yup, catastrophic health insurance is actually fairly inexpensive in the states (high deductible like $10,000, but that’s all you pay when shit hits the fan in a bad way). I’m not here to judge anyone, because we are all idiots in our own way, but I’ve always kind of thought if you can afford toys and travel, you should probably have some kind of coverage, even if it’s not much. For those that are out there currently jumping with 0 coverage, you can easily fuck your finances for the rest of your life. It’s just hard to pay for something and not use it, but that’s kind of the point of insurance.

Tom A., sir I believe things have changed
a bit since the last time you were injured.

Eric, the point of Insurance is to pool risk.

To the OP:

Some health insurance policies have clauses
that will not pay IF the insured is doing: X
Example of an exclusion from a policy.

Insured is immediately NOT covered for any
injuries resulting from voluntarily ejecting one's
self from any moving car, train, boat, or plane.


Which explains why I saw a lawyer who got
injured SKY jumping, remove all of her gear,
have her husband drive her to the hospital,
to lie saying the injury was from bicycling.


Hence to truly know what is or is not covered
one must read the fine print. Do not take the
word of someone else, because their word is
not going to help you with $100,000 of bills!!

When I got hurt recently I told all the EMS/ER people it was mountain biking even though I was laying in the middle of a field ha. I wasn't sure if my insurance would cover wall strikes. I called later and turns out they cover everything. I think it's those travel insurances you have to watch out for and choose the right plan. In regards to people not having insurance and all these Gofundme fundraisers practically saying "help me! I participate in a dangerous sport where people get hurt all the time and now I need money," it's out of hand.