CMA Sound Healthcare: Low Costs, Great Results
Robert L. Doerschuk
October 10, 2008
"Go ahead," said Storme Warren, grinning broadly. "Guess which one."
He was rotating his arms, one at a time, in wide circles, forward and backward. It was impossible to identify that it was his left shoulder that sustained multiple major injuries just four months previously, when the popular host of GAC's "The Collection" and "Country Music Across America" tumbled on the slopes at Steamboat Springs, Colo.
Warren was covering "Country in the Rockies," the T. J. Martell Foundation's annual fundraiser for cancer research. But he had budgeted some personal recreation into his trip too. A self-described advanced intermediate skier, he rented some equipment and enjoyed himself on the slopes for a few days before going to work. On his last scheduled full day, Jan. 26, he retrieved his own skis after some routine service work had been finished and headed up Storm Peak for one last run.
One detail had slipped his mind. "I never got my skis adjusted to the rental boots," he said. "So as the day progressed, the bindings got looser and looser."
This came to Warren's attention after one ski slipped completely from its binding. Even so, he figured he could make it home if he maintained a safe speed on his last descent.
"Then I tried to make one hard turn," he remembered. "The ski flew out from underneath me and I did what they call a 'high-side fall,' which means you're falling from the high side of the mountain and you go down with more momentum. I knew I was going to hit either my head or my shoulder, so I tucked in and my shoulder took 100 percent of the impact."
The Ski Patrol soon arrived and, seeing the severity of the injury, rushed Warren directly to Yampa Valley Medical Center. A doctor popped his arm back into position, wrapped it in a sling and sent the patient back to Nashville for surgery the next day at Vanderbilt Medical Center.
Fortunately, a specialist in shoulder injuries, Dr. John Kuhn, performed the operation. Warren was lucky as well to have enrolled in the CMA Sound Healthcare program shortly before his departure for Colorado.
"I had been dealing with a lot of dilemmas with our family health care," he said. "And when I heard about CMA Sound Healthcare, it seemed almost too good to be true. Instantly, the plan we chose started saving us close to $200 each month for family coverage. But after my surgery, the true test was going to be how everything worked out over the next few months."
According to Warren, CMA Sound Healthcare passed that test with flying colors. "The bills have started coming in and so far we're at about $15,000," he estimated. "That doesn't include rehab, which is probably another $10,000. But what I like is this nice little note at the bottom of each of those bills that tells me what I owe - 'zero.'"
His out-of-pocket expenses, from the Ski Patrol through rehab, will actually total $100. "This is just blowing me away," Warren admitted. "There's more peace of mind and less red tape. With CMA Sound Helthcare, you feel like you've got an alliance. Honestly, it's hard to wonder why any CMA member wouldn't become a part of this."
Implemented in September 2007, CMA Sound Healthcare offers comprehensive health insurance for domestic individual CMA members, often well below rates available elsewhere to self-employed individuals as well as those employed by CMA member organizations.
2008 CMA Close Up® News Service / Country Music Association®, Inc.
He was rotating his arms, one at a time, in wide circles, forward and backward. It was impossible to identify that it was his left shoulder that sustained multiple major injuries just four months previously, when the popular host of GAC's "The Collection" and "Country Music Across America" tumbled on the slopes at Steamboat Springs, Colo.
Warren was covering "Country in the Rockies," the T. J. Martell Foundation's annual fundraiser for cancer research. But he had budgeted some personal recreation into his trip too. A self-described advanced intermediate skier, he rented some equipment and enjoyed himself on the slopes for a few days before going to work. On his last scheduled full day, Jan. 26, he retrieved his own skis after some routine service work had been finished and headed up Storm Peak for one last run.
One detail had slipped his mind. "I never got my skis adjusted to the rental boots," he said. "So as the day progressed, the bindings got looser and looser."
This came to Warren's attention after one ski slipped completely from its binding. Even so, he figured he could make it home if he maintained a safe speed on his last descent.
"Then I tried to make one hard turn," he remembered. "The ski flew out from underneath me and I did what they call a 'high-side fall,' which means you're falling from the high side of the mountain and you go down with more momentum. I knew I was going to hit either my head or my shoulder, so I tucked in and my shoulder took 100 percent of the impact."
The Ski Patrol soon arrived and, seeing the severity of the injury, rushed Warren directly to Yampa Valley Medical Center. A doctor popped his arm back into position, wrapped it in a sling and sent the patient back to Nashville for surgery the next day at Vanderbilt Medical Center.
Fortunately, a specialist in shoulder injuries, Dr. John Kuhn, performed the operation. Warren was lucky as well to have enrolled in the CMA Sound Healthcare program shortly before his departure for Colorado.
"I had been dealing with a lot of dilemmas with our family health care," he said. "And when I heard about CMA Sound Healthcare, it seemed almost too good to be true. Instantly, the plan we chose started saving us close to $200 each month for family coverage. But after my surgery, the true test was going to be how everything worked out over the next few months."
According to Warren, CMA Sound Healthcare passed that test with flying colors. "The bills have started coming in and so far we're at about $15,000," he estimated. "That doesn't include rehab, which is probably another $10,000. But what I like is this nice little note at the bottom of each of those bills that tells me what I owe - 'zero.'"
His out-of-pocket expenses, from the Ski Patrol through rehab, will actually total $100. "This is just blowing me away," Warren admitted. "There's more peace of mind and less red tape. With CMA Sound Helthcare, you feel like you've got an alliance. Honestly, it's hard to wonder why any CMA member wouldn't become a part of this."
Implemented in September 2007, CMA Sound Healthcare offers comprehensive health insurance for domestic individual CMA members, often well below rates available elsewhere to self-employed individuals as well as those employed by CMA member organizations.
2008 CMA Close Up® News Service / Country Music Association®, Inc.
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