DAN Insurance Coverage Level

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Mike126

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Location
Herndon VA
In past years I have only had the basic DAN accident insurance. Now that I am getting older I was thinking I should increase my coverage. Currently there are 3 levels and I would consider either Guardian ($125/yr) or Preferred ($75/yr). The difference is Guardian provides 2x the coverage on the accident related costs over Preferred. Guardian also adds other coverage for additional transportation costs and non-Scuba related water activities. I have one big trip planned to Turks with the family and will do local quarry dives for the rest of my dive season.

Just curious as to what others are doing and if there is an average cost per accident for DCS or other higher level care issues.

Also, I was thinking about coverage for my teenage boys but not sure if they need Guardian or will Preferred be appropriate? They are non divers (for now) but they are taking the resort course on our trip.

My insurance company (Aetna) does not cover dive related accidents....
 
I'd do a search and read some of the DAN related threads. Some people are very unhappy with the way thay avoid paying claims.
 
In Texas, for some reason, the Guardian plan is not available. :confused:
 
In that case, I would consider the Master plan (which has a 130' limit). Keep in mind that your primary insurance will pay first and DAN is the secondary or supplement. Have you checked with your primary insurer to see what they cover (realizing that they don't make it easy)? I believe DAN also has family plans.

Edit: This might be interesting:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/diving-medicine/470206-dcs-treatment-obama-care.html
 
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I'd do a search and read some of the DAN related threads. Some people are very unhappy with the way thay avoid paying claims.

And some people are very happy with DAN. It is important to follow their rules....like getting them involved early on and not later, after you've already made your arrangements and gotten help.
 
I'd do a search and read some of the DAN related threads. Some people are very unhappy with the way thay avoid paying claims.

I think it is fair to say their front-end support during a hyperbaric emergency is very good. Unfortunately, all insurance is terrible at the paying end — especially if they think they can get the money out of one of your primary health policies. I'm not trying to defend DAN in particular, only warning that others are likely to be as bad or worse. At least DAN understands the treatment.
 
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In that case, I would consider the Master plan (which has a 130' limit). Keep in mind that your primary insurance will pay first and DAN is the secondary or supplement. Have you checked with your primary insurer to see what they cover (realizing that they don't make it easy)? I believe DAN also has family plans.

Edit: This might be interesting:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/diving-medicine/470206-dcs-treatment-obama-care.html

Unfortunately my primary insurance does not consider diving a covered activity.... When I spoke with DAN the other day they did not mention a family plan. I'll ask again though. The membership is single or family.

I'm not sure I have ever experienced an insurance company that has been easy to work with for filing claims. Aetna has always tried to reject the claim first and wait for us to pursue it. Fortunately, my wife has extensive experience in managed health care contract negotiations with providers and insurers.
 
Unfortunately my primary insurance does not consider diving a covered activity....

That is probably debatable now that Obamacare/ACA regulations are somewhat in place. Hyperbaric treatment is the “standard of care”. Unfortunately, this can make the settlement phase even more complex as insurance companies duke it out.

You really want DAN for the hyperbaric treatment since they won’t debate it “in your hour of need”. They do pay and settle up later. However, a lot of other expenses may well be covered by your primary. You might also want to look into the cost of expanding your existing policy to cover non-hyperbaric treatment expenses.
 
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