Ever purchased an avy beacon with HSA account?

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Jorts
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Re: Ever purchased an avy beacon with HSA account?

Post by Jorts »

curt86iroc wrote: Wed Oct 27, 2021 9:46 am thanks, im well aware of the data. my point was, if you reduce the population down to people caught in avalanches, the rate of mortality is less for those wearing transceivers than those without.

https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... n_survival

The study population was 1504 persons who were involved in 752 avalanches either in Switzerland from 1990 to 2000 and from 2002 to 2003 (1296 persons, 86.2%) or in Austria from 1998 to 2004 (208 persons, 13.8%). Persons equipped with an avalanche airbag had a lower chance of dying (2.9% versus 18.9%; P=0.026, OR 0.09, n=1504). In persons who were completely buried, without visible or audible signs at the surface and who did not rescue themselves (n=317), we found a lower median duration of burial (25min versus 125min; P<0.001) and mortality (55.2% versus 70.6%; P<0.001, OR 0.26) in those using an avalanche transceiver than in those not using the device.

the study from the CAIC deals with relative levels of experience and doesn't necessarily correlate any data between transceiver usage and mortality.
I took pvnisher's comment as alluding to the fact that beacons and knowledge beget more experience which begets greater risk overall. Having said that, there's no question beacons save lives (just like seatbelts) and you should know how to use them if you're going to recreate in slide terrain.

There's a common misconception (though less common than past) that beginners are most commonly involved in avalanche accidents.

The CAIC's study used questions to somewhat control for self-reporting bias (e.g. highest level of avy education, years recreating in the backcountry, number of days per year, etc.).
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Re: Ever purchased an avy beacon with HSA account?

Post by SkaredShtles »

To the OP's initial question: it does *not* count as a healthcare expense.

Leave those $$ in that HSA to grow via the magic of compound interest. You're gonna need it for *actual* healthcare expenditures later in life. :mrgreen:
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Re: Ever purchased an avy beacon with HSA account?

Post by pvnisher »

curt86iroc wrote: Wed Oct 27, 2021 8:07 am
pvnisher wrote: Tue Oct 26, 2021 6:54 pm Statistically, wearing that beacon and the training to go along with it will increase your likelihood of dying in an avalanche by a fair amount.
that's a slightly misleading claim
Yeah, this is the book I'm reading right now.
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Re: Ever purchased an avy beacon with HSA account?

Post by Trotter »

pvnisher wrote: Wed Oct 27, 2021 5:44 pm
curt86iroc wrote: Wed Oct 27, 2021 8:07 am
pvnisher wrote: Tue Oct 26, 2021 6:54 pm Statistically, wearing that beacon and the training to go along with it will increase your likelihood of dying in an avalanche by a fair amount.
that's a slightly misleading claim
Yeah, this is the book I'm reading right now.

Screenshot_20211027-194329_Chrome.jpg
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Re: Ever purchased an avy beacon with HSA account?

Post by curt86iroc »

data is objective. data analysis is subjective :)
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Re: Ever purchased an avy beacon with HSA account?

Post by Carl_Healy »

Trotter wrote: Wed Oct 27, 2021 10:20 pm
pvnisher wrote: Wed Oct 27, 2021 5:44 pm
curt86iroc wrote: Wed Oct 27, 2021 8:07 am

that's a slightly misleading claim
Yeah, this is the book I'm reading right now.

Screenshot_20211027-194329_Chrome.jpg
You can make up statistics to prove anything. 87% of people know that
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Re: Ever purchased an avy beacon with HSA account?

Post by pvnisher »

curt86iroc wrote: Thu Oct 28, 2021 9:10 am data is objective. data analysis is subjective :)
Glad to see you're in "the data IS" team. The folks on "the data ARE" team... are insane.

And you know the odds of not dying peacefully in your sleep go down every time you wake up.
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Re: Ever purchased an avy beacon with HSA account?

Post by Jorts »

pvnisher wrote: Thu Oct 28, 2021 5:09 pm
curt86iroc wrote: Thu Oct 28, 2021 9:10 am data is objective. data analysis is subjective :)
Glad to see you're in "the data IS" team. The folks on "the data ARE" team... are insane.
All I could gather from that datum is that he's on the "analysis IS" team.
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Re: Ever purchased an avy beacon with HSA account?

Post by Dave B »

pvnisher wrote: Thu Oct 28, 2021 5:09 pm
curt86iroc wrote: Thu Oct 28, 2021 9:10 am data is objective. data analysis is subjective :)
Glad to see you're in "the data IS" team. The folks on "the data ARE" team... are insane.
I think you mean "The folks on the "the data ARE" team... is insane."
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Re: Ever purchased an avy beacon with HSA account?

Post by WVMountaineer »

I get my medical kits, tourniquet, and blister aid materials from the HSA store. Although an avy beacon isn't on there, there's a surprising amount of things on there that qualify as covered by an HSA.

Not sure if sharing the link is allowed here but I'll give it a shot to add some value to this thread: https://hsastore.com/search?q=medical+k ... ch-button=

The website is legit and I've used it several times.
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Re: Ever purchased an avy beacon with HSA account?

Post by uwe »

Interesting points. Risk mitigation is a key tool I use for my self-preservation; probably as we all do to some degree. Traveling in Colorado's BC and hitting on avy terrain? Beacon/probe/shovel gear and skills required; not that hard, not that heavy, not a huge cost, but a good investment, and may save a life is how it works out for me. So far so good.
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