Torn ACL to Fuji BJJ medalist in just 12 - months, with Scott Sievewright.

I am here with Scott Sievewright, on February 28th, two days after the grappling event at Fuji Brazilian jiu jitsu tournament that he attended and competed in.

Scott is the owner of Primal MMA gym in Milwaukee, WI. He is also a policy holder of Jiujitsuinsurance.com. He has an interesting story because he had an injury not too long ago that required urgent medical treatment.

He has multiple insurance policies with us and because of our insurance programs that we him enrolled into, he was able to get treatment right away for his injury, and get back on the mats in time for the Fuji BJJ tournament. Scott had a successful tournament, and in fact, got second place in both of his adult divisions!

Here is an interview with Scott detailing his recovery process after his torn ACL (without surgery) and how his jiu jitsu insurance coverage paid all of his medical bills 100% as well as paid him extra cash to use during his recovery from this injury.

So Scott, how was the Fuji Brazilian jiu jitsu tournament in Milwaukee? How was your experience?

Actually, it is the first time I've done Fuji and I was very impressed with how well organized and smoothly it ran. They have their own software, which updated all the competitors where they were supposed to be, and when they were to be expected. I came away with nothing but a good perspective.

The Fuji BJJ competition in Milwaukee was well run. I was also there at jujitsuinsurance.com vendor table, so I can also attest to that. It went very smoothly and it looks like you took two silver medals, congratulations on that.

However, you're coming off a pretty serious injury. Today is February 28th, 2022, when was that injury and what was it?

Okay, so I wasn't thrilled with the two silver medals, but I was thrilled to be back on the mats. It’s been exactly one year since I hurt my knee during a training session. After an MRI, I found out I tore my ACL, two menisci, and had some other damage in the ligaments.

How, how did that injury happen? During grappling practice?

Through grappling practice. Yep. I zigged when the other guy zagged and felt the big dreaded pop.

And this was from a take down?

This was from a take down, yes.

So you just felt your knee pop?

I felt my knee pop immediately and the swelling began pretty shortly after.

How long did it take you until you got medical care?

Well, first of all, because my regular medical insurance wasn't particularly good, it was a short term insurance policy that I had with a high deductible, so I went the usual route of asking friends and people who had a little bit of experience before I finally got myself to a PT.

I got to a PT within a few days after the injury. Of course they couldn’t really tell you what's going on there, but over time as I didn't heal as quickly as I thought, the pain didn't go away as early as I thought, and the functionality didn't come back, so I finally decided to go and see an orthopedic surgeon and get an MRI.

And how many days after the accident was that MRI done? Do you remember?

I did a little “wait and see”, I did a lot of reading and educating myself, but I think it was almost one month after the initial pop.

Okay, after the visits to the doctors, the rehabilitation and also the MRI, what was the final diagnosis?

So again, the diagnosis was a partial tear of the ACL, which meant surgery was an option for me or rehab. It's kind of a coin toss, a wait and see kind of thing, which I decided to do.

I thought I'd give the rehab a good go first. So as far as medical attention was concerned, I went to a PT regularly, I saw my doctor once and I got the MRI just to confirm.

And when was this accident again?

The accident was in February, 2021.

So this has been basically one year?

Exactly one year.

And how long did it take before you started, after your accident going through PT? How long did it take before you started feeling a bit more confident on the mats?

Well, I decided to take it slowly. I turned 45 this year, so I'm no spring chicken. But I guess three months. I was pretty much incapacitated for that time. I do work as a coach in the martial arts business, so that was tough. And then I had some rehab on the side and I gradually, gradually started to get a little bit more….…

A bit more mobility or confidence?

A little bit more mobility and confidence. I think the mobility came back before the confidence. I would say from month zero to three no action. Three to six, I just found myself in very comfortable positions with people I trusted. Six to nine months, I started to get a little bit more into it, getting some of my confidence, and movement back. The last couple of months have for the most part, been back to relatively a hundred percent.

And so you're a brown belt and you were competing in the adult expert No-gi division, correct?

Yes.

What weight class?

170 pounds. And yeah, I went to the adult division. I lied about my age.

And so one year later we have you back now. the most, the most interesting detail is you had two, not one, but two jujitsu insurance policies with us.

Two accident - injury policies on top of the low cost major medical insurance. And the reason we doubled up on the accident injury policy was because we saw that there was a gap in your short term medical plan with almost a $10,000 out of pocket before the insurance company would pay anything.

So for just a couple extra dollars, we were able to put you in accident, injury policies, and both of those policies paid you directly cash benefits after you filed a claim for those injuries.

Do you remember what your total medical bills were from the doctor visits and the MRI? About roughly what was the total cost of your medical bills? And then what was the amount of money you got back from the insurance company to reimburse you for those medical bills?

Sure. Just a little bit about the insurance. I come from the UK, where we have all our medical needs taken care of, so I'm not too familiar with the American insurance system. But when I opened the gym and became self-employed, I had to buy for the first time my own insurance policy, which was a short term insurance policy. I had a very high deductible out of pocket, which was of course a concern, but I knew it would cover anything catastrophic which is why I picked that one.

This was when my friend introduced me to the jiu jitsu insurance policies and spoke to me about how these programs work as supplements to my medical plan. And I thought that might be a good way to protect myself from any kind of garden variety of small injury bills that I might incur, which wouldn't have been covered under my short term policy. I'm always hoping never to be injured but it is part of my job to be on the mats and be mobile so I figured I needed to have this coverage.

From the initial injury, from my PT, I was paying out of pocket 100%. I think I had about six visits to the PT, which I paid about $100 bucks each. Or maybe $80 bucks each. So that came in around $500 cash out of pocket for my PT. I then went to the doctors for an MRI. Between the billing coming through and going to the doctor and MRI, that came through, gonna say around $1000 dollars, just under $1000.

So, all in all, $1,500?

Yeah, just short of $1,500 for everything.

So after you git those bills you and I filed the claims together for the two accident - injury insurance plans, and both of those insurance companies paid you back directly. Do you remember the total amount you received back?

Yeah, the checks came in a kind of series. I filled out the information packets and sent them off and I didn't know what to expect.

I only had to give a very, very brief explanation of what the injury was and of course provide some documentation of the card expenses. Then the checks started to come in and they came in over a period of about 8 to 12 weeks.

I don't recall any particular order. I had three checks for almost $250. I had one check for $930 bucks and I had another one for $700 and some change. There were also a couple of $50 checks too. So I think all in all, I came away with about $2,600 in just cash checks sent straight to me.

$1,500 in medical bills, but $2,600 in checks. So you came out a couple dollars ahead. The cost for those accident injury plans was just, one of them was about $50 bucks per month for both plans.

Would you say it was well worth your investment? And if so, did having those insurance companies give you more confidence that you'd be able to go and get care quicker because you knew you would be covered?

Well, initially I was concerned about any pushback it might have got because of the injury and because I got the injury in training, but I didn't receive any pushback whatsoever. And so I was pleasantly surprised when the check started coming through. And yeah, I mean, it's not life changing money, but 1500 bucks out my own pocket and the uncertainty of extra care, this jujitsu insurance really, really helped with my reimbursement.

I'd rather I've not been injured, but I actually came out a little bit on top financially and plan never to go into training or on the mats again without the insurance to be quite honest. $50 - $60 bucks a month, just to have that peace of mind, I think is a no-brainer for all combat facilities, regardless of your insurance.

Congratulations Scott on your road to recovery, and getting back on the mats. This is the great success story of how having the right insurance coverage gives grapplers in our community the resources and cash they need to get the care required to get themselves back on the mats quicker.

I think I'd like to add Chris, I don't think it matters what your main insurance policy is. These plans are add-ons. It's a supplemental medical plan, not really an alternative. So for me to know, I can cover some of my early bills in the unfortunate event I do get in an accident, at least I have some money coming back to me. I think it's money well spent. It's certainly something as a gym owner I encourage all my students to get.

I'm pretty passionate about sharing the word and getting this information out there to the grappling community. No one is more skeptical than me about insurance plans and the insurance companies themselves, not to mention knowing how poorly the American healthcare system is run. But as I said, I am very much an advocate for Jujitsuinsurance and going forward, I expect this just to be a monthly payment .

I'm happy that it all worked out for you. Thanks and congratulations.