Insurance-less Stevenson heads to Mexico

This past Friday, UFC lightweight Joe Stevenson postponed an interview with MMAjunkie.com about his career plans.

Why? He was headed across the border to Tijuana, Mexico.

No, he didn't get a good deal on prescriptions, hit the club scene, or pick up some kitsch. He went because he didn't have health insurance, and X-rays on his knee proved cheaper across the border.

Stevenson's X-ray technician in Tijuana said he may have a partial tear of his LCL or PCL. Regardless, he believes he doesn't need surgery. And if he doesn't need surgery, he wants to fight.

Stevenson is just one of many fighters who doesn't have health insurance and meets his health needs by hook or by crook while often relying on a network of friends and sympathetic professionals to receive medical care.

This is the part of MMA you rarely hear about.

The former lightweight contender once had health insurance through his wife, Maia, but lost it when she stopped working after giving birth to their second son. At one point, he applied for health insurance and listed his occupation as "Fighter." He said the premium he was quoted was more than $500 a month.

And before that, an overconfident Stevenson thought he simply wouldn't need coverage and could avoid injury.

Stevenson now is working with a new accountant who's going to help him set up a corporation. He can use it to gain easier access to health insurance. He'll also consult with his manager on whether surgery is necessary.

WOW!

That's cheap. Most contracted athletes have some kind of coverage. Guess Zuffa has been losing too much money to steamers to even consider covering their fighters.

GDPofDRC wrote:

That's cheap. Most contracted athletes have some kind of coverage. Guess Zuffa has been losing too much money to steamers to even consider covering their fighters.

no doubt. I think any fighter under contract should be covered 100%. I thought they were.

bigbeastcardinal12 wrote:

GDPofDRC wrote:

That's cheap. Most contracted athletes have some kind of coverage. Guess Zuffa has been losing too much money to steamers to even consider covering their fighters.

no doubt. I think any fighter under contract should be covered 100%. I thought they were.

I thought they were too that's crazy if they're not.

My insurance runs $800 a month! Now I pay only half of it, so if he thiks $500 a month is expensive, he needs to recognize. Better get him a real job if he can't handle the swings of the life of a fighter. You don't hear Shane Carwin having insurance issues, why not Joe "Daddy"? Mother Fucker has a job 40 hour a week and he has exceeded half-a-million this year fighting. Better learn how to flip a burger.

bigbeastcardinal12 wrote:

GDPofDRC wrote:

That's cheap. Most contracted athletes have some kind of coverage. Guess Zuffa has been losing too much money to steamers to even consider covering their fighters.

no doubt. I think any fighter under contract should be covered 100%. I thought they were.

They are covered for medical and injuries at the shows.

The UFC should at least offer a plan that covers training injuries for a reduced premium.

Right, just something to protect their products. Most of these guys get all of their injuries training for UFC's fights.

Wolfgangsta wrote:

The UFC should at least offer a plan that covers training injuries for a reduced premium.

No doubt about that. Most of these guys own their own schools or teach so they should also be able to get something done through that. AFLAC is your friend.

Andrew the Raider King wrote:

My insurance runs $800 a month! Now I pay only half of it, so if he thiks $500 a month is expensive, he needs to recognize.

That isn't really the point of the article but I'll admit that's the first thing that stood out to me also. $500/month for health insurance as a professional MMA fighter seems really low to me.

Joe made $95k at TUF 9 in June 2009, $94k at UFC 104 Oct 2009, and at least $97k at UFC 110 Feb 2010. That's $286k for 9 months work not including sponsorships, endorsements, etc. It also doesn't include any related training expenses and such that he has, but seriously, he can't afford $6k/year for health insurance? The UFC should be ashamed for not providing insurance for its fighters though.

Why Thessy? There are people all over the world who have jobs that don't pay nearly as well and still don't provide insurance for their employees, but they somehow keep plugging along. Besides health insurance isn't a right, it is a privilege and I am very appreciative of my employers efforts to make sure I have insurance. However the pay sucks, so it all works itself out in the wash.

Joe Stevenson makes more than all MMA fighters save an elite group of guys. The vast majority of guys under contract to Zuffa and Strikeforce live fight check to fight check.

http://espn.go.com/extra/mma/blog/_/name/mma/id/5436956/fighters-health-insurance

I kinda agree with this take. Joe makes enough money to fund his own coverage. But does being in the UFC mean he should? Also interesting that Union coverage is mentioned, we have heard what Dana thinks about a fighters union.

Andrew the Raider King wrote:

Why Thessy? There are people all over the world who have jobs that don't pay nearly as well and still don't provide insurance for their employees, but they somehow keep plugging along. Besides health insurance isn't a right, it is a privilege and I am very appreciative of my employers efforts to make sure I have insurance. However the pay sucks, so it all works itself out in the wash.

I agree with every word you said and I've been in exactly the same situation as you at one point. I've also been in a situation where a serious medical situation arose and I was uninsured and ended up spending what was literally my life savings to that point to pay for it.

Of course health insurance isn't a right, otherwise the UFC would have been sued for not providing it. What I mean by saying the UFC should be ashamed for not providing insurance is that while it isn't a right, it's a courtesy extended by the extreme majority of employers to its full-time employees. The exclusivity of the UFC contract prevents the fighters from fighting/working for another employer in the same industry and most devote a lot more than 40 hours a week to their craft on average so they are every bit as full time as the guy working at WalMart or McDonalds who do get health coverage. I'd also be willing to bet that the UFC camera guys and other guys on the payroll with 'normal' jobs get coverage.

you guys have to remember it is expensive to run a MMA training camp hell i remember back in the day alot of the Lions Den fighters had to be laoned money for training camp until they got their pay checks