Do I need DAN?

[TMHeimer]

I have had DAN medical insurance for years. never used it. hopefully will never have to.
The chamber in Alaska closed two years ago. Nearest chamber is now in Seattle, a fact that I am constantly reminded of in post-dive briefings. Even if you have a great medical plan, the cost of the ride alone would put you into the poor house.
I also buy travel insurance through DAN. Needed to use it last year. No problems whatsoever.

Wow. Don't they need a chamber for stuff other than diving incidents? Anchorage is quite a big city--about the size of Halifax where we have one. Sounds like a lot political pressure is in order.

 

[covediver]

Wow. Don't they need a chamber for stuff other than diving incidents? Anchorage is quite a big city--about the size of Halifax where we have one. Sounds like a lot political pressure is in order.

Our remaining chamber closed last year when one commercial diving company was purchased by another and they closed what had been a fine facility constructed only a few years before. Medical uses other than diving are not really that prevalent up here, for example hyperbaric wound care, etc) and a lower priority given the limited population, limited specialities, the demands of providing care to rural villages and the high cost of medical care in Alaska. For many procedures, many insurance companies offer medical travel assistance to the lower 48 where some procedures are half the cost of treatment in Anchorage.

 

[TMHeimer]

Yeah, I can imagine the costs of medical care up there, having spent most of my life in Northern Manitoba. Not making a discussion of the Canadian Healthcare vs. U.S., but I do know how much more other stuff costs in the Sub-Arctic and Arctic. For certain procedures, folks from where I lived were air-lifted to Winnipeg. I would be concerned however with doing any serious deep diving in AK where the chamber is a fairly long plane ride to maybe Seattle. It is what it is, I guess.