There’s a price to pay when ball players leave it all out on the floor. Now the league is planning on paying them back for it.


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Yesterday [Wednesday, July 27] representatives from the NBAPA met up in New York and unanimously voted to fund health insurance for all retired NBA players who played in the league for at least three seasons. With this decision, the NBA became the first North American pro sport union to vote on funding health insurance for former players. Nine-time NBA All Star and president of the NBAPA, Chris Paul had this to say about the historical decision.

The game has never before 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. 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 proposal of this decision consists of the following:

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  • 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 January 1, 2017.

Put another slash on the W side as the NBA continues to become one of the leaders in innovating the game of basketball on and off the court.