On Wednesday, the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) announced another breakthrough for all major sports leagues in North America. Their player representatives voted unanimously to fund health insurance for all retired NBA players with at least three years of service time in the league.
This will be the first of its kind and has never been done in any other professional league on the continent. The move will underline the focus the association has in looking after the health of their players, past and present.
NBPA President and Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul had this to say of the development:
“The game has never before been more popular, and all the players in our league today recognize that we’re only in this position because of the hard work and dedication of the men who came before us, It’s important that we take care of our entire extended NBA family, and I’m proud of my fellow players for taking this unprecedented step to ensure the health and well-being of our predecessors.”
The health insurance policy will utilize the country's leading health benefits provider, UnitedHealthcare. Included in the proposal are the following topics:
- Retired players with between three and six years of NBA service time but who are not yet eligible for Medicare would be offered a plan that includes medical, hospital, and prescription drug coverage with modest out-of-pocket costs for deductibles and co-pays.
- Those with between seven and nine years of service would be offered the same coverage with even lower out-of-pocket costs.
- Retired players with at least 10 years of service would be offered the same coverage as the seven-to-nine-year players, and would include coverage for their entire family.
- Retired players with three to nine years of service who are eligible for Medicare would be offered a $0 deductible and $0 co-pay plan along with a low-cost prescription drug plan; those with 10+ years of service to receive this coverage for themselves and their spouse.
- The open enrollment period for retired players would begin this fall, with coverage beginning on January 1, 2017.
This is indeed a remarkable move by the players. association. The NBA is setting the bar high with the treatment and care for their athletes. Michele Roberts, the executive director of the NBPA, spoke about how proud she was with this recent development:
“I couldn't be more proud of Chris, our Executive Committee and our entire membership, providing health care security for players who came before them has been on the players' minds for the past year and they worked closely with us to make it happen. We're also thrilled to partner with UnitedHealthcare on this initiative. We had many choices, but none matched UnitedHealthcare's flexibility, experience, clinical expertise, and robust tools and technologies.”
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