NBPA to provide health insurance to retired players

The National Basketball Association continues to raise the bar for professional sports leagues across North America as it pertains to the treatment and care of former players.

The NBPA announced on Wednesday that all retired players with at least three years of experience under their belt will be eligible to receive funded health insurance. This was determined in a recent unanimous vote by player representatives during a meeting on June 26.

"The game has never been more popular, and all the players in our league today recognize that we're only in this position because of the hard work and dedication of the men who came before us," said Chris Paul, a nine-time All-Star for the Los Angeles Clippers and president of the Players' Association. "It's important that we take care of our entire extended NBA family, and I'm proud of my fellow players for taking this unprecedented step to ensure the health and well-being of our predecessors."

The current proposal, which utilizes the country's leading health benefits provider in UnitedHealthcare, is as follows:

• Retired players with between three and six years of NBA service time but who are not yet eligible for Medicare would be offered a plan that includes medical, hospital and prescription drug coverage with modest out-of-pocket costs for deductibles and co-pays;
• Those with between seven and nine years of service would be offered the same coverage with even lower out-of-pocket costs;
• Retired players with at least 10 years of service would be offered the same coverage as the seven-to-nine-year players, and would include coverage for their entire family;
• Retired players with three to nine years of service who are eligible for Medicare would be offered a $0 deductible and $0 co-pay plan along with a low-cost prescription drug plan; those with 10+ years of service to receive this coverage for themselves and their spouse.
• The open enrollment period for retired players would begin this fall, with coverage beginning on Jan. 1, 2017.

"I couldn't be more proud of Chris, our Executive Committee and our entire membership," said Michele Roberts, the executive director of the NBPA. "Providing health care security for players who came before them has been on the players' minds for the past year and they worked closely with us to make it happen. We're also thrilled to partner with UnitedHealthcare on this initiative. We had many choices, but none matched UnitedHealthcare's flexibility, experience, clinical expertise, and robust tools and technologies."