Rescue Insurance??

[radhak]

Just the $0.02 from a first responder's perspective...

That must be one of most effective 2cents ever spent : lot of information there that I had no clue about. Thanks Sam. My respect for the FD grows even higher.

The bottom-line of any such 'to pay or not to pay' should be - consider the net effect : if a person rescued tries to shy away from paying their dues, the next time they might not have anybody to rescue them. There are many towns that don't have any FD departments at all... Wonder what that guy 75 ft up in the air would think when there's no rescue !

[Armini]

its an interesting discussion.
If we assess and require insurance based upon risk, will we then have more categories than smoker, non smoker for insurance? like sportsman, hunter, woodworker, skydiver, frequent driver-long distance commuter?

Ultimately we could have lower insurance rates for people who did not participate in anything - stay at home behind locked doors and never venture out taking risks on the street people. Because if you went to the movies you are at risk of auto accident on the way to/from the theater, heart disease from the popcorn, possible theater fire, mass murderers, robbery carjacking etc.

Colorado, for example, levies a fee on permits and licenses associated with potentially risky activities, in the form of a card you can buy - and must for some licenses. It funds search and rescue costs across the state (not medical transport). As a non-resident and therefore non-taxpayer (nor Federal US taxpayer), I had absolutely no problem contributing to that fund for my backcountry skiing - especially because it is $3/year.