Surprising info about the Invictus Games

[BemusedAmerican]

I was stunned to read this:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/scott-snow-veterans-invictus-team-medical-insurance-1.7328066

It is really disturbing that the veterans are treated like this

Omg that's scandalous.

Oh wow, that’s awful! Surely the games organisers should be insuring participants? Or at the very least letting the participants know and helping them organise their own insurance!

I was surprised myself that the vets aren't covered during the games on the same basis as serving personnel, but even the article makes it clear that they were told about this: "The document says veterans should "consult with their personal insurance organization to confirm they are individually insured and have applicable health coverage" and that "costs for any additional health insurance purchased will not be reimbursed""

Scott Snow seems to feel this wasn't enough because he wasn't "taken aside" to have it explained and it was mentioned "only once" in the document, but much as I admire the vets I have to wonder what would have been enough, and whether the outcome would have been any different no matter how it had been put

We all sometimes make mistakes but it doesn't necessarily follow that they're someone else's fault

That's appalling I think. I'm very surprised that health insurance related to participating in the Games wouldn't be covered by either the country who's sending them, or by the IG itself.

Presumably health insurance for those who already have a disability or serious injury would be a lot more expensive than for an able bodied person. So you're asking veterans to fork out for it out of their own pocket so they can participate in the Games? That just seems really wrong to me, regardless of whether or not they were told.

And I do agree with him that if you're not going to provide cover then you should be making it really bloody clear (not just burying it in a 30 page document) as some of these sports are high risk, even more so for people who already have injuries.

How does it work for the Olympics and Paralympics, does anyone know?

It sounds like he made the assumption that his regular insurance would cover this and it didn't. I would imagine it's quite difficult to get relevant and appropriate insurance for Invictus so the veteran athletes should be covered in the same way as the serving athletes. It also sounds like there was another organisation called Soldier On looking after the Canadian athletes who are a charity - this adds another layer of complexity.

This needs to be looked into. Don't the athletes also pay for travel and accommodation. It seems a bit off.

I know that Olympic athletes are paid for by the Olympic committee for their country and that covers travel and their stay, meaning that they get turfed out of the Olympic village as soon as they’ve finished competing. But I’m not sure if this covers insurance as well.

If the vets are paying for their own travel, food and accommodation then that is extremely exploitative.

That's a complete disgrace - probably too skint if they pay for H&M expenses ... the more I hear about IG the more it disappoints me

I would have expected the national teams to cover necessary expenses (travel, accommodation, insurance and team kit), perhaps requiring contributions from athletes and certainly fundraising from the public and also seeking grants from grant-giving veterans charities.

And if personal insurance was required, someone really should have checked that all participants had it, especially as those with complex medical issues may need specialist underwriting

The Invictus Foundation essentially franchises itself in each country, which is why I think it falls to the national contingents

Surely the organisers have a duty of care to make sure particular are insured? My dcs played rugby and I remember the lady who did the admin for ds1's team insisting a boy be taken off the pitch as she realised his parents hadn't paid his club fees, so he wasn't covered by the club insurance. Lots of people there thought she was uptight' but she was doing the right thing for him.

The biggest problem seems to be the accompanying costs, that even medical insurance would be unlikely to cover. The idea that invictus doesn't have the capacity to provide the support for the veterans should difficulties arise after competing is ridiculous. When I took DS2 to America I paid for specialised insurance and 10 years ago for him alone was £400 for 2 weeks cover and even then hardly covered the additional caring costs if he was injured/ill during the stay and certainly hardly any long term costs once returned back to the uk.

And Meghan spent 300k on her 6 day wardrobe at the last games. Horrendous.