Jockeys face more insurance problems

By Liz Mullen

Business First of Louisville

Updated: 7:00 p.m. ET Nov. 13, 2005



Jockeys were in arrears by more than $700,000 in premiums paid to the Jockeys' Guild health plan, according to recently released congressional records that raise new concerns about the self-insured medical plan, which covers about 500 jockeys and their families.



The records, posted on a congressional Web site, show that of 320 jockeys, 251 or 78 percent were delinquent in paying their monthly health insurance premiums. Guild policy requires that premiums must be paid two months in advance.



The records also show that about 50 jockeys owed more than $5,000 in unpaid contributions to the health plan, and eight of those owed more than $10,000, meaning they had not contributed to the health plan in many months.



And at least one jockey, Shane Sellers, said guild management told him he did not have to pay the thousands of dollars he owed for his health insurance.



The records were of payments owed to the guild heath insurance plan as of March 2005, and it is not clear how much jockeys might currently owe. Guild executives did not return phone calls.



The congressional records did not include information for about 150 jockeys who reside in California and Delaware, as those states subsidize insurance for those jockeys, although they are part of the overall guild self-insured plan.



Industry officials voice concern

"If it is true that there is $700,000 worth of uncollected premium out there, then the self-insured mechanism that was put into place to insure jockeys for health benefits is, by definition, in serious jeopardy," said John Unick, an insurance broker who has served on the National Thoroughbred Racing Association's insurance panel.



He also served on a California Horse Racing Board committee that investigated alleged problems at the Jockeys' Guild.



Self-insured health plans are dependent on members paying their premiums or contributions on time, Unick noted. Like other self-insured plans, the guild's health plan uses funds from premiums to pay claims.



Barry Broad, an attorney who is advising a group of jockeys trying to oust the guild's current management, said he recently found out about the delinquent health premiums.



"If there is that kind of unfunded liability in their health care plan, there could be a big problem," said Broad, who recently quit as the guild's lobbyist because of concerns with the guild's management.



"I am very concerned," he said. "I am concerned whether it's insolvent or leaning towards insolvency, if that is what they have allowed to happen."



Guild allowed other policy to lapse

The Jockey's Guild, which represents 1,200 professional jockeys nationwide, has been under fire for a year for its management of a different insurance policy.



That policy, which covered jockeys for $1 million in medical bills related to on-track racing accidents, was allowed to lapse in 2002, but jockeys were not officially notified that it expired.



Jockeys discovered that plan was not in place only after Gary Birzer, a West Virginia jockey, was paralyzed in July 2004 and was not covered for more than $500,000 in medical bills.



Jockeys' Guild CEO Wayne Gertmenian was slammed by members of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation at an Oct. 18 hearing for allowing the policy to lapse and not informing the members.



That committee recently published a number of documents, including the health insurance premium list, on its Web site.



Since that hearing, a number of jockeys have called for Gertmenian to resign, and the guild's 27-member senate has called an emergency meeting for Nov. 15 to consider removing him and his management team.



Gertmenian did not return a message left with his assistant and a message on his voice mail.



Guild employee calls reports 'very disturbing'

The lack of catastrophic on-track accident coverage affects only jockeys who suffer work-related injuries.



But about 500 jockeys, their spouses and children, routinely rely on the guild's health plan as their insurance coverage for non-work related medical problems.



Darrell Haire, the Jockeys' Guild member field representative and the only guild employee who agreed to be interviewed, said, "I have heard some talk that there were a lot of riders behind (in paying premiums), and they had sent out letters months ago saying they were to pay the premiums or be canceled."



Haire said he did not know what happened with the letters or whether riders were dropped from the policy.



"I don't know what the heck is going on here," Haire said. "It's very disturbing information I am hearing. I don't know what to believe anymore."



Sellers says Guild official told him not to pay

Sellers, an outspoken retired jockey who led a protest at Churchill Downs last year over the insurance issue, now feels he was abandoned by guild management.



He said he received a bill for thousands of dollars he owed in insurance premiums a few months ago and that he called guild vice president Albert Fiss about it.



"I said, 'I ain't paying this,' and Albert told me, 'Shane, don't worry about it,'" Sellers said.



Sellers said he believes he still is covered by the insurance policy.



Fiss did not return phone messages left on his cell phone.



Walter Cullum, a jockey who also was formerly an outspoken supporter of guild management, said he received a call from Gertmenian a few months ago.



He said Gertmenian offered to loan him money to pay his overdue premiums of thousands of dollars. "He said, 'Walter, you are one of the people I am calling that are in arrears. ... I am willing to loan you the money, and you will have to pay me, Dr. G., down the line.' "



Cullum said he declined the offer and that he later was dropped from the insurance policy.



Broad, a lobbyist who represents several labor unions, said it would be "serious misconduct" for any guild official to allow certain members not to pay medical premiums, as Sellers claimed occurred in his case.



"If that is true, that is very disturbing," he said. If guild officials forgave debts owed to the guild, "that is essentially giving away assets," Broad said.