Dive Insurance - Australia

[Neda]

Hi everyone,
Had a quick look and couldn't find this particular issue ....for Australian divers, do you always get dive insurance for every dive? I tried looking on DAN asia pacific and cant really see what would be needed.
Does medicare cover chamber visits? how about private? We're on HCF and trying to get an answer out of them is like pulling teeth with jello pliers.

We've got a day trip planned up to cairns with some houseguests so just the basic cattle boat.....however we do sometimes dive flinders reef and the morton island area on weekends, few months ago I got my arm crushed by the boat in heavy swells and had to skip the whole day diving (turns out it wasn't broken just hurt like anything).


Sorry mods if I posted in the wrong area


^_^

 

[burna]

Hi Neda,

I personally don't have DAN insurance as I think it is more for if you were diving OS where there are no reciprical rights with regard to Medicare.

In OZ you would, providing your a citizen, be covered by medicare I believe.

You might want to look into ambulance cover as this could cost you $1000's if you need to be transported especially by chopper. Most private health cover will cover you for ambulance, but, by the sounds of it you live in QLD so if you are paying an electricity bill then you will be paying for ambulance cover as par of that.

This is my understanding of it anyway, perhaps others will chime in and correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Neda]

Oh yeah, I'm in queensland, forgot about that bit. Electric (and rates?) go for our ambulance cover, I know my private doesnt' cover because I'm in QLD... does medivac count as ambulance cover ::?


I'm not planning on having any dive issues! I just would feel a lot better knowing everythings covered than getting a few K's hospital bills handed to me in a chamber!

 

[Sas]

Hi everyone,
Had a quick look and couldn't find this particular issue ....for Australian divers, do you always get dive insurance for every dive? I tried looking on DAN asia pacific and cant really see what would be needed.
Does medicare cover chamber visits? how about private? We're on HCF and trying to get an answer out of them is like pulling teeth with jello pliers.

We've got a day trip planned up to cairns with some houseguests so just the basic cattle boat.....however we do sometimes dive flinders reef and the morton island area on weekends, few months ago I got my arm crushed by the boat in heavy swells and had to skip the whole day diving (turns out it wasn't broken just hurt like anything).


Sorry mods if I posted in the wrong area


^_^

I have DAN insurance for overseas travel. You do not need DAN insurance if you are an Australian citizen that has ambulence cover. Ambulence cover covers evacuation, etc and Medicare generally covers all chamber treatments. A buddy had three chamber treatments and ended up $50 out of pocket (total cost for three chamber rides was around $1200 all up).

With private cover, get them to put the diving stuff they cover in writing. This is what I had to do with mine after I rung them to ask about diving cover and they said "what kinds of things could go wrong for divers?". I was eventually told that they will cover any emergency treatment in a hospital and if I needed further treatment I would have to go to a private hospital they approve for cover.

For overseas travel I know NZ has reciprocal public health cover, no idea about other countries.

Anyway, I got DAN insurance just to cover any gaps that might occur. It's quite cheap and means I don't have to worry about out of pocket expenses.

 

[burna]

Yeah, better to be safe than sorry. I believe that Aeromed is covered by ambulance cover.

Found this for you Queensland Ambulance Service : About QAS

Now, since I've moved from QLD to VIC I'm off to make similar investigations for myself!

 

[Neda]

""what kinds of things could go wrong for divers?""


um, yeah....ok guess I'll have to call and get written confirmation then, it's good to know that medicare is there, I think I wont die of shock if it's only $50 for three, did your friend get a frequent chamberer card sas?

Thanks burna! That was a helpful link !

 

[Sas]

""what kinds of things could go wrong for divers?""


um, yeah....ok guess I'll have to call and get written confirmation then, it's good to know that medicare is there, I think I wont die of shock if it's only $50 for three, did your friend get a frequent chamberer card sas?

Thanks burna! That was a helpful link !

I sent them an email with this wikipedia link to show them the diving accidents Diving hazards and precautions - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Anyway, good luck with your insurer. I guess if that + Medicare does not cover everything, DAN will cover the rest. But DAN is more for overseas cover as I see it, as evacuation and treatment can run into the tens of thousands, sometimes more (say you got hurt in the US).