Hi there,
I have a question. As a resident of Massachusetts we are required to have health insurance…however as a Mariner, we are covered by the Jones Act- My understanding is that is just liability coverage correct? Or is the Jones Act a substitute for health insurance? There is a large tax penalty for not having health insurance in MA, but if I’m on the water 80% of the time…
You are generally covered by your employer while working aboard the vessel. Not so when you get off. Doesn’t matter how much you working or what state you live in, you still have to have health insurance.The Jones Act is not a substitute for health insurance.
Jones Act coverage isn’t even remotely close to health insurance. It’s closer to Workman’s Comp.
Did you miss the news about Obamacare? Everybody in the country is required to have insurance, or pay a penalty.
[QUOTE=tomholly;155290]Hi there,
I have a question. As a resident of Massachusetts we are required to have health insurance…however as a Mariner, we are covered by the Jones Act- My understanding is that is just liability coverage correct? Or is the Jones Act a substitute for health insurance? There is a large tax penalty for not having health insurance in MA, but if I’m on the water 80% of the time…[/QUOTE]
I’m sorry if I offend any sensitive souls, but this is one of the most ridiculous questions ever.
The Jones Act is NOT insurance. It just gives you the right to sue your employer if (often when) it fails to provide you with “maintenance and cure.” And compensation for your injuries. Its nothing like workers comp. The state pays workers comp fairly promptly and without much doubt if a covered worker is injured. Mariners are not covered by workers comp. The Jones Act just gives you a right to sue.
Apparently, you work for an employer that does not have benefits. That should tell you a lot about how little they will do for you if you get injured. If you have a serious injury that requires ongoing long term care, it would probably exceed their insurance cover and bankrupt their corporation. Where would that leave you?
What is you get hurt in car accident or on the ski slope, or you fall off your roof clearing snow?
Be very glad that you have relatively low cost, good coverage Romney Care in Mass, and pay the premiums with a smile.
under the Jones Act, when an American citizen employed as a “seaman” on any US vessel (or even foreign vessel when in US waters) the shipowner is required to provide maintenance and cure to you for any medical complaint you may have including all those not related to the nature of employment, hence if you suffer a heart attack aboard not only is the treatment of the attack required but also the treatment for heart disease which lead to the heart attack thus one reason that American seamen are persona non gratis on most foreign vessels. This of course goes back to the sailing ship days when a shipowner would just toss a sick or injured seaman off his ship once it made port leaving the seaman to his own devices.
Theoretically, you can prove you are under Jones Act maintenance and cure coverage while employed and may satisfy Massachusetts’ insurance mandate but there are no health insurers who will write a policy for only time ashore. Once upon a time any US seaman had 100% health care available to them at US Public Health hospitals and clinics but I believe that went away when they kaboshed shipping commissioners signing on and off crews on merchant vessels.
[QUOTE=c.captain;155340]under the Jones Act, when an American citizen employed as a “seaman” on any US vessel (or even foreign vessel when in US waters) the shipowner is required to provide maintenance and cure to you for any medical complaint you may have including all those not related to the nature of employment, hence if you suffer a heart attack aboard not only is the treatment of the attack required but also the treatment for heart disease which lead to the heart attack thus one reason that American seamen are persona non gratis on most foreign vessels. This of course goes back to the sailing ship days when a shipowner would just toss a sick or injured seaman off his ship once it made port leaving the seaman to his own devices.
Theoretically, you can prove you are under Jones Act maintenance and cure coverage while employed and may satisfy Massachusetts’ insurance mandate but there are no health insurers who will write a policy for only time ashore. Once upon a time any US seaman had 100% health care available to them at US Public Health hospitals and clinics but I believe that went away when they kaboshed shipping commissioners signing on and off crews on merchant vessels.[/QUOTE]
While it is true that the Jones Act requires that an employer pay you subsistence (maintenance) it is typically $25 to $75 per day. The employer is required to pay your medical bills (cure) for illiness or injury while you are in service of the ship. Its up to you to hire a lawyer and sue to enforce those rights (the government does not do this for you – as it should). Do you have any idea how difficult that is or how many years it takes?
Anyone that relies on the notion that an employer with no benefits is going to voluntarily, and timely, pay many tens of thousands of dollars in Jones Act mandates is a complete fool.
Ronald Reagan eliminated the US Public Health hospitals for seamen as part of the early 80’s budget cuts. Its a good thing he did, because the quality of care at those hospital was abysmal. I am old enough to know firsthand. In those days, employers would routinely refuse to pay cure, saying that free “cure” is available at the US Public Health hospital. It was terrible.
For all its many faults, we are lucky to have Romney Care, Washington State health coverage, and Obama Care. Its a necessary first step in the right direction. The private health insurance companies are little more than organized crime. They are much in need of federal mandates and regulation.
[QUOTE=tugsailor;155354]For all its many faults, we are lucky to have Romney Care, Washington State health coverage, and Obama Care. Its a necessary first step in the right direction. The private health insurance companies are little more than organized crime. They are much in need of federal mandates and regulation.[/QUOTE]
Yep, sure is good to see government making those criminals suffer…
From the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/18/us...lies.html?_r=0
“But since the Affordable Care Act was enacted in 2010, the relationship between the Obama administration and insurers has evolved into a powerful, mutually beneficial partnership that has been a boon to the nation’s largest private health plans and led to a profitable surge in their Medicaid enrollment.”
“These companies all look at government programs as growth markets,” said Michael J. Tuffin, a former executive vice president of America’s Health Insurance Plans, the main lobby for the industry. “There will be nearly $2 trillion of subsidized coverage through insurance exchanges and Medicaid over the next 10 years. These are pragmatic companies. They will follow the customer.”
“Since Mr. Obama signed the law, share prices for four of the major insurance companies — Aetna, Cigna, Humana and UnitedHealth — have more than doubled, while the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index has increased about 70 percent.”
“In addition, the Affordable Care Act has engendered growth in the role of private insurers in Medicaid. The law expanded eligibility for Medicaid, and most of the new beneficiaries receive care from private health plans under contracts awarded by state Medicaid agencies. As a result, Medicaid enrollment is up more than eight million, or 15 percent, in the last year.”
“With all the politics of the Affordable Care Act, people don’t realize how much the industry has benefited, and will continue to benefit, from the law,” said Jay Angoff, the[B] Obama administration’s top insurance regulator[/B] from 2010 through 2012."
“In another sign of the close relationship, the administration has recruited experts from the industry to provide operational expertise. Eight months after the unit of UnitedHealth Group, called Optum, helped repair HealthCare.gov, [B] the administration hired a top Optum executive, Andrew M. Slavitt, as the No. 2 official at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The administration waived conflict-of-interest rules[/B] so Mr. Slavitt could participate in decisions affecting UnitedHealth and Optum.”
[QUOTE=tugsailor;155317]I’m sorry if I offend any sensitive souls, but this is one of the most ridiculous questions ever.
The Jones Act is NOT insurance. It just gives you the right to sue your employer if (often when) it fails to provide you with “maintenance and cure.” And compensation for your injuries. Its nothing like workers comp. The state pays workers comp fairly promptly and without much doubt if a covered worker is injured. Mariners are not covered by workers comp. The Jones Act just gives you a right to sue.
Apparently, you work for an employer that does not have benefits. That should tell you a lot about how little they will do for you if you get injured. If you have a serious injury that requires ongoing long term care, it would probably exceed their insurance cover and bankrupt their corporation. Where would that leave you?
What is you get hurt in car accident or on the ski slope, or you fall off your roof clearing snow?
Be very glad that you have relatively low cost, good coverage Romney Care in Mass, and pay the premiums with a smile.[/QUOTE]
Had a friend from SIU who was collecting a whopping $18/day Maint. and Cure in late 90s.
Recent court case of suit against Abdon Callais ultimately got mariner $40/day after months of bickering, and clearly after he had already paid it out in order to have food, shelter, electric.
[/B]I’ll bet Donald Trump could panhandle in Harlem and pull in more than $40/day.
Health Insurance vs. M&C roll of the dice??? Never even considered someone would ask that…