Oh Boy! Another New Program from the NFL!
First the press release that just hit the AP newswire today:
NFL Starts Spinal Program for Players
The NFL is starting a spinal treatment program for retired players.
The league will make specialists available at five hospitals across the United States to evaluate and treat retirees with spinal injuries.
It will be available to any player whose pension is vested, which comes after he has played three seasons plus four games.
The hospitals involved in the program are Mount Sinai in New York City; the Emory University Orthopaedics and Spine Hospital in Atlanta; UCLA Health System in Los Angeles; the U of California in San Francisco; and Washington University in St. Louis.
Each medical center provides an orthopedic spinal surgeon who will direct the program and also includes a neurosurgeon. Players who can’t afford treatment can get financial aid from the NFL Player Care Foundation.
Looks like Mary-Ann Fleming is going to be running another new program for the NFL! After such great successes as their hip replacement program, get ready for another underwhelming success! Some of you may still remember Dave’s left hip replacement surgery from last summer (click HERE to read about that and see gory pictures). At that time, the NFL had announced a new hip replacement program, conveniently timed to keep Congressional inquiries at bay for a while. The program seemed decent on the surface much like this Spinal Program. “Hey – we feel your pain. So we’re gonna take care of you guys.” Of course, like most of these programs, there probably isn’t much there when you peek behind the curtain. The hip replacement program also had clinics lined up to take care of the retired players – just like this Spinal Program. And the NFL offered financial aid to those who couldn’t afford it – just like this Spinal Program.
Here’s what they didn’t tell you about that hip replacement program: You have to make your own way to the clinic of your choice. You have to pay for everything and then submit your bills to them for review, approval and reimbursement. Just don’t hold your breath waiting. After months and months of going back-and-forth with people like Mary-Ann Fleming (NFL’s Manager of Player Benefits) and Valerie Cross (NFL’s Director of Player Benefits) and sending in several packages of co-pay and medication bills, Dave finally got a check! At first, they only offered enough to pay for a t-shirt and two seat cushions (read that post HERE). Then months later (actually early this year), they finally sent Dave a check for a whopping $517.63 (you can see that HERE)! And we still don’t know how many people have actually been successful in getting real help from this program. No one’s ever contacted us to confirm that they’ve gotten a complete hip replacement paid for by the NFL. Forgive us for being so cynical, but if you can’t run a real Hip Replacement Program, why bother telling everyone you’re now going to start a new Spinal Program?
What we haven’t told anyone up until now is that Mary-Ann Fleming had contacted Dave a couple of weeks before The Summit in Las Vegas at the end of May. She indicated that she wanted to resolve Dave’s additional costs from that hip replacement surgery but suggested that she had never received Dave’s HIPAA release so they could access his records for confirmation. Never mind that Dave had sent that along to her late last year by e-mail and US Mail and it had also been CC:’ed to his disability attorney John Hogan, as well as to Eden Halady (NFL’s Player Benefits) and Valerie Cross! Dave and I had to pick ourselves off the floor after reading her excuse in a return e-mail (a modern version of The-Dog-Ate-My-Homework!) click on the e-mail to enlarge it for reading:
And now these same highly-paid professionals are going to start another program?!!
Mary-Ann Fleming at The Summit
Oh yeah – at The Summit, Dave handed Mary-Ann Fleming another file folder of bills from his hip surgery that he’s received since that last check. Me – I’m not happy because I lost a bet with Dave; I actually thought they might hand him a check at The Summit just to look good before setting up their table outside of the conference hall to promote NFL benefits programs.
Walt Roberts
June 11th, 2009 at 7:50 am #
Here we go again! More programs, more opportunities to steal more money!
Retired players need comparable pension as basball’s & a real disability program. As for the settlement of the NFLPA’s appeal to the tune of $26.2 million, what happened to the total amount of $28.1 million? And… Why give them 2 years to pay out this paltry sum of 26.2 million. These people are criminals and should and need to be prosecuted!
Walt Roberts
Cleveland Browns
64′ NFL Champions
Frank Middleton
June 11th, 2009 at 8:08 am #
So if you only have 3 seasons or less – such as many of us – then we’re just out of luck. What a shame…
Frank Middleton
John Hogan
June 11th, 2009 at 9:17 am #
Certainly a vested former player who needs spinal surgery and does not have adequate health insurance might be very thankful for this program. (I know that Emory, here in Atlanta, is a world-class facility.) However, once the player recuperates from his surgery – if he’s unable to work and can’t obtain or isn’t eligible for disability benefits; or is existing on a small NFL pension, the overall quality of his life may not substantially improve. These programs are important, but no substitute for the disability and pension reform that is sorely needed.
John Hogan
Disability Attorney
Bob Grant
June 11th, 2009 at 9:32 am #
This program is another cruel public relations ploy. Why would anyone in their right mind say that you can get this help only if you played enough years to become vested. I was talking with Jim Summers at the Summit and I felt like taking a baseball bat and going to both the NFL and the NFLPA and start from the top cracking heads. Jim no longer has the use of his arm because of a spinal injury received in his very first year in the League while he was a member of the NFLPA. He has suffered with chronic pain from his injury for more than 40 years now. I am sick of these damn programs and I am damn tired of those who support the NFL as it makes fools of us all while they simply fool the public.
So New Fourth and Alumni, this is who you have signed on with now, huh?
Bob Grant
Player Advocate
John Hogan
June 11th, 2009 at 10:51 am #
Bob,
You are confusing the issues, and trying to twist the facts to suit your purposes. No one at Fourth and Goal is indicating in any way, shape or form that this program is a substitute for disability and pension reform. (See my previous post.)
Perhaps the biggest things holding back the advancement of retired players’ issues is the dissemination of fiction for fact; anger for constructive solutions; and personal attacks among and between advocates who all have the same goals.
John Hogan
(A Proud Fourth & Goal Board member)
Helen L. Horvath, CEO/Advocate, HW Associates, San Diego, CA
June 11th, 2009 at 12:55 pm #
I recently attended the Retired Players Summit at the request of a retired player as a consultant/advocate.
Currently, there are greater issues that players, active and retired, should be concerned about in the short run. The most prevalent is the plan underfunding and potential for plan takeover by the federal government! If there’s no funding for programs, then there’s no funding for the various retirement and disability plans. Think about this: No one thought that US Steel or Pan Am would go under; yet, the union and employees went through a plan takeover. Be concerned.
For more information about the retirement and disability issues along with the beginning steps of change, go to:
http://hwassociates.blogspot.com/
Helen Horvath
Dave Pear
June 11th, 2009 at 2:11 pm #
Dear Retired Players,
This is more whitewash, snow job and a PR stunt for Congress!
I was in Washington DC when Gene Upshaw and Roger Goodell promised Senator Kerry and Senator Dorgan in June of 2007 that they would fix the benefit programs for retired players.
However, the very next week they came out with the Alliance along with the white paper and the truth squad. The NFLPA Leadership claimed the truth squad was going to prove the NFLPA was right and the retired players were wrong. Also, the white paper was going to print and make public their findings. However, the white paper violated HIPAA law by posting the medical information of 10 retired players on a public web site without our permission and the truth squad disappeared.
However, 3 weeks after these Washington DC meetings with Congress, Mike Ditka called a press conference in Chicago at his restaurant and Mike stood up and told the press, “Gene Upshaw and Roger Goodell Lied to Congress!!!” They promised to fix the problems and do something different.
They did just the opposite of what they promised to do. The truth squad is gone and who knows what happened to the White Paper? In fact, the Players Inc. trial proved that retired players are right and the NFLPA Leadership is wrong!
Now, we have another new program called, the Spinal Program for Players? You can add this to the other programs already in place such as:
1) Medicare Supplement Benefit;
2) Joint replacement;
3) Prescription Drug card;
4) family exercise (The Poor Man’s Plastic surgery);
5) and now the Spinal Program.
They are ALL virtually worthless or nonexistent! The reason I know is I have tried to access them and use them. There’s very little there and are waste of time. I would be happy to sit down and share the facts with you. I am embarrassed for the NFL. If you think Congress is going to fall for this nonsense please allow me to share my findings.
I strongly encourage DeMaurice Smith and Roger Goodell to use these programs for themselves. What would your wife say if you came home and told her this is your new medical, prescription and family exercise benefits? She would most likely think you are suffering from head injuries or a concussion. (oh, I forgot the NFL is doing another study on concussions because they are not sure if there is even a problem). Yeah, right!
These newly-created programs must be some of the dog food that Gene Upshaw was referring to in the Players Inc. trial when he spoke about retired players.
Regards,
Dave & Heidi Pear
Gary Larsen
June 11th, 2009 at 4:58 pm #
Every program I’ve tried to use seems worthless. Their drug discount program is a joke. Keep up the good work – it’s nice to know somebody is working for us old-timers.
Gary Larsen
1964 – 1974
Rams & Vikings
Purple People Eater
Larry Kaminski
June 16th, 2009 at 8:02 am #
Dave:
I find this new program to be very interesting. I was told two years ago by a spinal specialist that my back is a mess and the reason for pain and lack o mobility. The SSA doctors concurred and I was put on SSDI. I sent my paperwork into the NFL when the window opened to reapply for NFL Disability. I received a note a few weeks after the paperwork was sent that the review board denied my request because I did not meet their criteria for disability.
My question is this: If the new spinal program actually proves that my claim was not fraudulent and that I am considered disabled, what will the NFL review board do with the results?
The bottom line is WHO ARE THESE GUYS?
Keep up the great work and efforts to keep us informed.
Last question: Why can’t we all unite under the NFL alumni logo with Bernie Parrish as the head man to fight together for these rights? I thought that was the point of the IRP meet in Las Vegas?
Thanks for the time,
Larry Kaminski
Denver broncos
1966-1973