News & Media

Delegates Address Rising Insurance Costs

SIOUX FALLS, SD — April 24, 2004 — On Saturday, April 17, 2004, a special session of the USA Deaf Sports Federation House of Delegates was convened at McKay Events Center on the campus of Utah Valley State College with 19 delegates in attendance. The rare session, unprecedented in USADSF’s recent memory, was mandated by a 2003 House of Delegates motion last November proposing an increase in membership fees from $10 to $25 per sport per year. The 2003 HoD delegates postponed a decision as they felt additional research was needed to figure out how much it actually cost USADSF to provide insurance services.

The annual membership fee was $20 per person until 2000, when the membership system was restructured to support a “participation fee” of $10 per sport per year. Having relied on $10 membership fee as a major source of revenue since then, rising insurance costs made it unsustainable for USADSF to continue to provide insurance services to the organization’s members and its affiliates. The premiums underwent a large increase in 2002 in view of the fact that insurance companies had reallocated capital to address various post-9/11 liability and insurance needs.

The special session's quorum will be determined on March 15, 2004. The membership dues and costs associated with membership support will be the only item on the agenda. A regular 2004 House of Delegates meeting will convene in Louisville, Kentucky during the first weekend of November 2004.

The delegates received information about USADSF’s current and proposed insurance plans from a PowerPoint presentation given by John Knetzger, Vice President of Member Services. Upon conclusion of the presentation on insurance, Herman Fuechtmann, Vice President of Financial Affairs, took the floor to propose a fee schedule based on membership size.

A motion to increase the fee from $10 to $16 per sport per year was successfully amended twice. The first amendment was to postpone the increase until September 1, 2004, and the second added another fee category for supporters and multi-sport participants: $24 per person per year. The whole motion as amended passed when President Bobbie Beth Scoggins cast the vote to break the 9-9 tie. The meeting minutes are available here.

The two-tier membership structure will require a closer cooperation among NSOs to check member status of each participant within the same “year”. Plans are underway to provide membership carding and online member services support services. July 1st is tentatively scheduled as the targeted date for the system to “go live.”

The regular session of the 2004 House of Delegates is scheduled for November 7-9, 2004 in Louisville, Kentucky. Any questions about USADSF’s membership and insurance program, please contact John Knetzger at .