Info Is DAN Insurance worthwhile?

[-JD-]

Also being discussed here: Unknown - Woody From “Dive Talk” DCS and Medical Journey

 

[Baker_Dive]

Like or hate divetalk people need to watch before throwing out opinions.

The issue wasn't whether they reimbursed a claim or not.

The issue was that if Woody didn't have 25k+ available to pay out of his pocket he wasn't going to get treatment for type 2 neuro DCS.

It appears DAN was going to take 24+hours to get an evac after having them jump through a bunch of hoops and having to argue a bunch with DAN about it. Ultimately woody paid himself (8k). Then, after that, they approved a chamber ride but weren't going to pay to get them into the hospital. Woody had to cough up more cash (18k!) on the spot to get into the chamber.

2 things.

First. Woody is a millionaire and talked about how hard it was to get his credit cards to approve an 8k charge. He’s praising Amex as the only card that approved the charge.

2. They only reimbursed woody because he’s semi dive famous and has a YouTube following, if it was any of us regular joes they’d tell us to kick rocks on the reimbursement.

 

[FabletheRaven]

Certainly re-evaluate the worth of DAN. We all pay out knowing we may need a medavac and hyperbaric chamber. The only information they should need in your ID and DAN number to get the ball rolling in a DCS emergency...which it obviously was since he made two visits to the hyperbaric chamber.

If DAN is going to be ****** about it: should there be a 'premium dive trip' insurance? Maybe different rates for different countries? I'd rather pay out the value honestly then get stuck like this.

Maybe DAN needs some healthy competition from other insurance agencies to make them a little more honest.

 

[insomniac]

What makes you think I didn't watch the video? I watched every second of it, and actually replayed a good portion of it twice (and never once did I say it was clickbait motivated; who in their right mind would think that given the circumstances). I heard them talk over and over about getting the transcripts. But I happen to know a thing or two about the legal system in the US (especially regarding insurance companies); and I am saying I will be incredibly surprised if any transcripts ever see the light of day. I am sure what they've said about the CEO being well intentioned is true; but lawyers win over the CEO almost every time. And there's no chance the lawyers will allow damning transcripts to be released. I think the best we will ever see would be some emails and texts; but odds of getting phone transcripts are slim to none. It would be great if we did though, so fingers crossed for another miracle.

 

[Baker_Dive]

The major problem was being in a shịthole country that was mandating payment prior to anything being done. That, along with the BS DAN was playing at, caused this shịtstorm to balloon out of control. In water recompression may have been the best option for him hindsight being what it is.

And yes, Woody is a click bait millionaire. This time he is the subject of the react video and isn't happy with how it went down (rightly so).

They were in the Bahamas. I’ve dove in way more “shithole” countries as you say than that. And I’m sure majority of us have here as well.

Woody owns a beachfront hotel in Florida, he isn’t a millionaire from his YouTube channel lol

 

[johndiver999]

The Bahamas may not be everyone's favorite place, but it is very, very close to Florida - only 30-40 minutes in a helicopter that should be able to evac to US in an emergency.

One of the things that DAN has marketed is the critical need to secure reliable and rapid international evac for treatment. Most people have regular insurance which will eventually cover reasonable medical costs. DAN is supposed to be the experts on this and secure transportation when you really need it and make sure you are routed to a hyperbaric chamber that is staffed and ready to roll.

If this story is even remotely factual, I'm not really seeing a value in renewal of my DAN and I have paid thousands in renewal fees for myself and family members over the years.

 

[Underwater Tourist]

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It would be so much nicer if people who comment here actually watch the full video, without skipping to at least get Woodys part of the story.

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[Boarderguy]

If this story is even remotely factual, I'm not really seeing a value in renewal of my DAN and I have paid thousands in renewal fees for myself and family members over the years.

Chatting with a buddy earlier this was brought up. Hopefully the attention this is getting will bring about a change in how things move forward with a call to DAN.

They also can't authorize every call for possible dcs because they would go broke. They took too long and required too much given the info they had to make it right based on what we've heard so far.

 

[Baker_Dive]

What we're talking about, and I think you'll understand if you take a second to really think about it, is the state of medical care. It is a shịthole. The country is meh and its medical system that Woody was relying on is corrupt.

Woody is a click bait attention seeking millionaire. I never said he gained it all or only from his channel with Gus.

Trust me. We agree.

Bahamas is pretty close to America and I and many others here have been way more remote than the Bahamas. If it can happen to woody in the Bahamas it can happen to any of us.

I don’t think he’s attention seeking but we disagree there and it’s fine. I believe him to be a stand up guy, you may not like his personality but it’s cool

 

[Boarderguy]

Trust me. We agree.

Bahamas is pretty close to America and I and many others here have been way more remote than the Bahamas. If it can happen to woody in the Bahamas it can happen to any of us.

I don’t think he’s attention seeking but we disagree there and it’s fine. I believe him to be a stand up guy, you may not like his personality but it’s cool

Yeah, we're both on the same page. I've been to worse doing far more dangerous things, that's one of the reasons I enjoy staying home nowadays. He's a character that I enjoy binging when bored at work every once in awhile. His antics are comedy and bring a lot of good attention to our sport. He's not attention seeking here, but I think it plays into their channel. It does however bring light to a problem the less well off would have trouble dealing with.