DAN Insurance Changes?

[MMM]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

The wrong place to have a political discussion is here (or any other place on the board besides The Pub). I have already edited out one political slur. If you want to carry on a discussion about American health/insurance care problems, please take it to the Pub. Otherwise I will just become much more aggressive in my moderation. Marg, SB Senior Moderator

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[lthomas132]

Just had mine renewed in Texas. Same coverage, same price ($110/year) for the preferred policy.

 

[DjDiverDan]

Just had mine renewed in Texas. Same coverage, same price ($110/year) for the preferred policy.

That strikes me as pretty solid evidence that the differences in rates and availability among different states is due to differences in insurance regulations among the states. The only other possible explanations (that I can think of right now) are: (1) differences in the way states tax income on these insurance products - possible, but that should only affect pricing, not availability of products; or (2) differences in the risk characteristics of divers from different states, i.e., divers from Washington are less safe and therefore generate higher claims experience than those from Texas - unlikely, and again, even if true, that should only affect pricing, not availability.

 

[gopbroek]

Attached are the DAN offerings for the USA by state (yes I am that bored at work). The entire Nation of Canada has the same levels and costs of insurance. There are two states in which only the ‘Guardian’ policy is offered, Washington and Vermont. There are also a number of other variations in the available insurance on a state by state basis but only those two have only the ‘Guardian’ level available with the increased coverage levels and cost. I realize DAN does not actually underwrite these policies and they are actually underwritten by the United States Life Insurance Company.

I fail to believe this is due to the actual risk per diver or even the cost of care between the state locations. Why would the diving be more risky in Washington state verses California or the medical treatment costs vary between the two states to account for the difference? How about the dangers and / or the medical treatment costs associated with Vermont compared to New York or Massachusetts? The other big factor for actual risk would be where do you dive? This is not even asked by the underwriter so I do not think it is a large factor. I am insured in Texas but do all my diving in Cozumel (pretty low risk with lots of chambers locally). How about someone who wreck dives off the Carolinas or in the Truk lagoon. I would think the risk would be greater but obviously this is not a concern to the underwriter. If it was truly risk based I would think the first questions would be ‘where and how often do you dive?’ as these would help define the actual risk.

I have to think that the underwriter is in the business of writing insurance and collecting fees, so I would think they would like to have as many subscribers as possible to spread the risk and make more profits. This leaves the main variable of state regulations as the reason for the different levels of the insurance availability on a state by state basis.

 

[ggunn]

Attached are the DAN offerings for the USA by state (yes I am that bored at work). The entire Nation of Canada has the same levels and costs of insurance. There are two states in which only the ‘Guardian’ policy is offered, Washington and Vermont. There are also a number of other variations in the available insurance on a state by state basis but only those two have only the ‘Guardian’ level available with the increased coverage levels and cost.

What strikes me a little strange is that here in TX as well as in a couple of other states the Guardian policy is the only one that is not available. Go figure.

 

[gopbroek]

What strikes me a little strange is that here in TX as well as in a couple of other states the Guardian policy is the only one that is not available. Go figure.

I know, go figure. Perhaps its all those extremely deep lakes we have

 

[MMM]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

More off-topic discussion and bickering has been deleted. If yours was one of them, and you feel it was unfair, perhaps you were just quoting and responding to something that was off-topic. Regardless, we have had quite a few reports on this thread, so I just decided to prune it heavily so it addresses the OP's initial question. And, since this is really a general topic, unspecific to Cozumel and after consultation with the mod team, I am moving this to the Basic Scuba Discussions forum....Marg, SB Senior Moderator

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[gopbroek]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

More off-topic discussion and bickering has been deleted. If yours was one of them, and you feel it was unfair, perhaps you were just quoting and responding to something that was off-topic. Regardless, we have had quite a few reports on this thread, so I just decided to prune it heavily so it addresses the OP's initial question. And, since this is really a general topic, unspecific to Cozumel and after consultation with the mod team, I am moving this to the Basic Scuba Discussions forum....Marg, SB Senior Moderator

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Fair enough, we were all warned quite clearly on this one.

 

[nwflyboy]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

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Thank you, Marg.

 

[ggunn]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

More off-topic discussion and bickering has been deleted. If yours was one of them, and you feel it was unfair, perhaps you were just quoting and responding to something that was off-topic. Regardless, we have had quite a few reports on this thread, so I just decided to prune it heavily so it addresses the OP's initial question. And, since this is really a general topic, unspecific to Cozumel and after consultation with the mod team, I am moving this to the Basic Scuba Discussions forum....Marg, SB Senior Moderator

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Thanks!