Medical insurance coverage an issue for Las Vegas events

First, the good news: Surgeons at University Medical Center have successfully reattached the piece of skull that had been removed from bantamweight boxer Z "The Dream" Gorres, who suffered a traumatic brain injury after a November fight at Mandalay Bay's House of Blues.

Now the bad news: Last week's intricate procedure at the publicly funded hospital, combined with more than two months of around-the-clock nursing care and painstaking rehabilitation work by a team of physical therapists, has driven the medical expenses of the financially strapped Gorres to nearly $600,000. It's a bill that Southern Nevada taxpayers must largely pick up, because state law requires promoters to put up only $50,000 worth of medical insurance for each fighter in the ring.
The consequences of the Filipino boxer's brain injury have prompted elected officials and the Nevada Athletic Commission to work toward crafting a solution that keeps taxpayers off the hook for the medical care of professional boxers.

But Las Vegas is home to lots of different events, and some are very risky. Could Clark County taxpayers end up footing the bill when other athletes or entertainers are hurt when performing here?

"We probably have more big events than any other city in the country," said Dr. Dale Carrison, head of the emergency department at UMC and its chief of staff. "As everyone knows, Las Vegas is a magnet for that sort of thing. And if someone does get badly hurt, UMC's trauma center generally takes care of them."

NASCAR, National Finals Rodeo, Cirque du Soleil, daredevil stunts by the likes of the late Evel Knievel, the Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll Marathon, National Hot Rod Association drag racing, championship boxing and mixed martial arts -- these are just some of the major events held in Las Vegas.

A survey of medical insurance coverage held by individuals who engage in events or performances where there is risk of injury -- the kind of events that thrill both live and TV audiences -- has found that coverage can range from nothing to 100 percent.

Bill Rundle, a longtime promoter of Knievel, said last week that the motorcycle daredevil "who broke every bone in his body" generally couldn't get medical insurance for his stunts because "they were too dangerous."

"No one would write him a policy for something where there was a good chance he wouldn't make it. It's that way with most people who do those kind of things."

Rundle also has promoted some stunts performed by Knievel's son, Robbie, "and getting insurance was always a problem for him, too."

Robert Zirkelbach, a spokesman for America's Health Insurance Plans, a trade association for 1,300 companies, said it would not be uncommon for an insurance company to refuse to cover a daredevil, or to offer medical coverage at such a high premium that it would be difficult to afford.

Attempts to reach contemporary daredevil Robbie Maddison, whose successful motorcycle jump at the Arc de Triomphe at Paris Las Vegas wowed crowds on New Year's Eve 2009, were unsuccessful. Maddison has suffered a number of serious injuries in stunts around the world.

Both Rundle and Zirkelbach said community leaders should be aware of the possible financial consequences should a daredevil be injured during a stunt in their community.

It was a 1967 stunt at Caesars Palace, Rundle said, that helped cement Evel Knievel's reputation as a performer who would risk his life to entertain an audience. When Knievel attempted to clear the casino's fountains on his bike, he took a nosedive that landed him in Southern Nevada Memorial Hospital -- later named UMC -- for several weeks with multiple pelvic fractures.