Chamber rides and Travel Insurance

[markmantei]

I am making a trip at the end of the month, and while I have dive coverage through DiveAssure, my wife does not (she doesn't dive very often). Before we leave for our trip I want to make sure that she is covered under out existing travel insurance benefits (or I'll buy supplemental insurance).

I made an inquiry to my existing insurance company to find out if dive accidents and decompression chamber treatments would be covered and the answer I received back was somewhat cryptic, owing to the fact that this individual obviously doesn't understand diving (to bad for him) or chamber treatments at all. The response is as follows:

"I can confirm that the Emergency Travel Assistance benefit covers for any unforeseen accidents/incidents that occur while abroad. If an emergency occurs while scuba diving and you will need to be hospitalized, then you should call the Emergency Travel Assistance number.

Costs for decompression chamber sessions/lessons is not considered an emergency nor is it covered under the medical coverage."

The first part tells me that dive accidents are covered, but the second says chamber "lessons" are not. While I could spend some time educating this individual a little further, I thought it might be faster if I could zero in to the specific procedure. Does anyone know if there is a procedure code that would be submitted to the insurance company, in the event a chamber ride is required?

Thanks!

[Low]

Below is a link to Athena for the CPT code 99183 with more information.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT)

Hope that helps.

[Wolfie]

Decompression treatment not considered and emergency? Huh?
As far as lessons, I'd think if you took a decompression trip and had to pay for it... Well, I'd call that a "lesson". A lesson on getting a new insurance company.
I'm no expert, but I'd think that DAN could be a cost effective choice to cover any gaps you may or may not have here.....

[DandyDon]

Are you referencing Alberta Health and Wellness public coverage? are you traveling out of the country and are you sure that it covers you outside of Canada?

I think that DAN or Dive Assure dive accident coverage is worth the cost even if you only dive once a year.

[Duke Dive Medicine]

PM sent.

[flots am]

"I can confirm that the Emergency Travel Assistance benefit covers for any unforeseen accidents/incidents that occur while abroad. If an emergency occurs while scuba diving and you will need to be hospitalized, then you should call the Emergency Travel Assistance number.

Costs for decompression chamber sessions/lessons is not considered an emergency nor is it covered under the medical coverage."

This isn't the kind of thing you want to be screwing around with.

For the cost of DAN insurance, compared to the cost of the entire vacation, I'd just buy the DAN insurance and forget about it.

You don't want to be standing there with your wife bent, while the chamber operator asks you if you have a spare $20K in your suitcase.

flots.

[markmantei]

Ok, so I received confirmation that this would be a covered procedure. I ended up sending the procedure and disease codes that were found on the website Low referenced in his post.

The codes I provided were:
CPT Code: 99183 (I believe this to be the procedure code for hyperbaric chamber treatments)
ICD-9 Code: 993.3 (I believe this to be the international disease code for decompression illness)

In the end the question ended up being forwarded to International Claims Department, which had more knowledgeable staff able to better answer the question.

The answer from the insurance company was:

"The information you provided on the decompression chamber and its requirement when an accident occurs while scuba diving helped clarify the inquiry.
I have received confirmation that the below expense for a decompression chamber in this situation is in fact covered under the Emergency Travel Assistance benefit.
Let me know if there is anything else that I can assist with."


I have posted this here for anyone else who may need similar info in the future.

[markmantei]

Are you referencing Alberta Health and Wellness public coverage? are you traveling out of the country and are you sure that it covers you outside of Canada?

I think that DAN or Dive Assure dive accident coverage is worth the cost even if you only dive once a year.

DandyDon, you are correct that Alberta Health and Wellness does not cover us outside of Canada. Even with public health coverage up here many of us have supplemental private insurance that covers drugs, vision, dental, etc. that is not covered by the government plan. It is this private insurance that also provides me with travel insurance.

[markmantei]

This isn't the kind of thing you want to be screwing around with.

For the cost of DAN insurance, compared to the cost of the entire vacation, I'd just buy the DAN insurance and forget about it.

You don't want to be standing there with your wife bent, while the chamber operator asks you if you have a spare $20K in your suitcase.

flots.

Flots, agreed that I would prefer not to be paying for chamber treatments out of pocket. That's why the post was here, and if you see in my original post I actually did address the fact that if she was not covered I would be purchasing supplemental insurance. I fail to see the value in having two insurance plans with the same coverage. I wouldn't do that with my car insurance and there is no value in it for travel coverage as well.

[DandyDon]

I generally have TravelSafe trip insurance when I leave the country and it does include $100,000 USD that would probably cover a diving accident, plus $1,000,000 Emergency Evacuation & Repatriation. I'd still want at least the middle DAN dive insurance plan or equivalent from Dive Assure, just in case - to fill in any holes, as well as advance payments up front as may be required in some locations. Not knowing which insurance you have, or where you are going - I'd can't speak to your probabilities, and I not might be able to say anyway - but you may need to be prepared to pay in advance and request reimbursement.

Do make sure you have DAN's phone numbers with you. They will still help you facilitate needs even if you're not a member. See DAN | Mission Of course the odds are that nothing will go wrong. Have a great trip.