Couple detained in Cozumel until chamber bill paid

[Snoweman]

I started out with the basic plan with DAN, but have moved to the Guardian Plan. I'm thankful every day that it appears to be money wasted, just like my whistle and Nautilus Lifeline. I did think about making a claim for a lost double ended snap hook, but I wasn't sure the $4.00 was worth the phone call.

 

[Altamira]

@Lorenzoid. I think I am missing your point about your insurance deductible in relationship to DAN insurance, and yes, I know you said you have DAN insurance. DAN is a secondary payer, and according to their insurance handbook "...DAN coverage is secondary coverage. After any other coverage you may have, DAN pays up to 100 percent of reasonable and customary costs of all remaining eligible expenses." So, I am assuming whatever your insurance company does not pay toward your medical bill for a dive injury, DAN would be the secondary payer, and cover the rest. In the case of the diver above needing a chamber ride, and billed for $1200, my point was simply that DAN's $75/year cost for the Preferred Plan (in Texas) could be had for 16 years for the price of his co-pay on this one issue. If he had needed a medevac, his bill might have been astronomical. Sorry, but not paying @$75 a year for dive insurance makes no sense to me at any level. If money is that tight, divers should just skip a two tank dive once a year to pay the premium.

 

[deepsea21]

My wife and I have been diving for 16 years and we have never wasted our $ on any form of dive insurance. If I had purchased DAN Guardian level at $125 per diver per year that would be $4,000 thrown away over the years for SECONDARY insurance. People purchase all this insurance as the insurance companies love to sell it and they are very savvy at marketing it. It sounds great but those who purchase it never read the full 50+ pages of the policy.

For those who think DAN is going to charter you a private med-evac jet back to the states from Coz in a medical emergency that is absolutely NOT going to happen. I simply view it as co-insurance that will cover our deductible on my stateside plan (which also is not going to pay for a private med jet from Coz to the states).

Everyone has to do what they have to to sleep well on vaca. I don't need DAN insurance to sleep well. I hope everyone does know that DAN insurance isn't really "DAN" insurance... DAN is just a brand name that is underwritten and sold by multiple insurance companies state by state in the US and everywhere else it is marketed.

 

[hilljo88]

Seems like a better lead for this thread would be: “Diver gets bent. COZ hospital provides excellent services. Diver’s personal insurance covers 95% of cost.DAN would have covered the balance.”

 

[Dan]

Here are my experiences with DAN:
1. Fell off a stair in a liveaboard in Papua. Split my right knee cap into 2. Had a knee operation in Jakarta hospital. Needed to fly home to Houston on business class with my leg straight on a brace after the surgery. Spent $5000 for the 24-hour one way flight home. DAN reimbursed me for the flight fare.
2. Caught a flu & passed out on the flight home from Palau to Honolulu. Spent a night in emergency room in Honolulu. My health insurance paid 80% of the medical bill. DAN reimbursed my 20% deductible of $1500.

 

[The_Aviator_1]

For the person who stated they didn’t know what the cost of a chamber trip in the us was. I got table 6’d about two years ago in Fort Myers. The er visit was billed at 2300$ for chest X-ray, arterial blood gas and regular labs as well as the doctor fee. Then I was billed $10,200 for all my chamber related services from Lee Memorial Hospital. This was the bill before the negotiated prices with my insurance which dropped the bill to around 500$ in copays and such. All of which Dan insurance covered 100%. I don’t think the bills were that unreasonable when you consider all the specialized techs and nurses that were involved as well as the equipment and that it was all available in an instant (well close to an instant). Still glad I had dan though and I will never dive without them!

 

[morecowbells]

It has been interesting and informative to read different opinions on diving insurance. I certainly see both sides to this issue. One of my reasons for getting DAN insurance is not only the added coverage, but that most facilities in dive areas are familiar with this insurer and there is less hassle. Is this true? Just curious.

 

[chillyinCanada]

No one needs insurance until they need it and then they really need it.

Anyone here living without house insurance just because it's never burned before?

 

[Snoweman]

No one needs insurance until they need it and then they really need it.

Anyone here living without house insurance just because it's never burned before?

Agreed. Who needs those pesky smoke detectors. If you're not changing a battery, then you're changing the detector every ten years. Such a waste of money...

 

[deepsea21]

Cut and pasted from the DAN insurance policy:

Emergency Evacuation and Repatriation. If a DAN Member or a Covered Family Member suffers a medical condition during the course of a trip and such condition (as determined by DAN TravelAssist in consultation with the local attending Physician) requires an emergency evacuation, or medically necessary repatriation, benefits up to a maximum of $100,000 (per person if a Family Membership) will be paid by DAN TravelAssist directly to the provider for Covered Expenses incurred for such evacuation or repatriation.

Emergency Evacuation means that, due to Medical Necessity, the Member or Covered Family Member requires immediate transportation from the place where such person has a medical emergency to the nearest appropriate medical facility where appropriate medical treatment can be obtained.

That means the closest hospital or chamber that can treat the issue. Period.

Now DAN defines "Repatriation" as follows:

Repatriation means that due to Medical Necessity, the Member or Covered Family Member requires follow-up care or rehabilitation services for the Sickness or Injury, and is deemed medically fit to travel by commercial air or ground transportation to either: • the person’s place of residence; or • the region where the person is living and/or working at the time of the Sickness or Injury; or • a different medical facility for further care, treatment or evaluation. Any Medically Necessary Repatriation shall be undertaken at the discretion of DAN TravelAssist in consultation with the Insured’s treating Physician.

"Commercial Air" does not mean a private jet med-evac and "follow-up" care does not mean primary care in an emergency situation.

Do what ya will but in my opinion DAN is nothing more than gap insurance that will cover most people's deductible on their primary insurance plan and nothing more. If you want real "Repatriation Insurance" that will scramble a fully outfitted med evac jet and get you back to the states as soon as you are medically able to travel in the care it provides that can be purchased but not through DAN... That insurance costs one heck of a lot more than $125 a year.