Toms Skujiņš is a Latvian Olympic cyclist living in America. He suffered a crash this week that broke his collarbone and highlighted the cost of healthcare in the U.S.
Olympic cyclist forced to travel to Europe for surgery due to U.S. healthcare system
James Dator has been covering a wide range of sports for SB Nation for over a decade, with a special focus on the NFL.
Skujiņš was going for his third straight Tour of California win when he crashed and had to be taken to the hospital. Immediately, he was told he had broken his collarbone, which forced him to withdraw from the event.
The 25-year-old rides for Cannondale, and on Tuesday morning Jonathan Vaughters, team manager, explained the situation they were having while trying to get proper healthcare for Toms.
The team insurance refused to pay for his clavicle surgery, which meant that the cyclist will need to travel back to Latvia to have the surgery paid for by the country’s single-payer system — a system that in 2008 was ranked as the worst in Europe.
The end result is a catch 22 for Cannondale and Skujiņš. Overwhelming health care costs in the U.S. means the cyclist can’t have surgery in the country he calls home, surrounding by the support system he’s developed in California, and now he will need to get surgery abroad.
Hopefully Toms will recover from his surgery and be back on his bike soon, but Skujiņš’ accident is another unfortunate example of the Unites States’ problematic healthcare system — even for an organization as big as a cycling team.
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