D.A.N is the Man

Screen shot from Diversalertnetwork.org

We get lots of questions from readers.  One of the ones that I field the most is "do you have insurance?".  The short answer is yes and no.  Isla and I are insured through Blue Cross Blue Shield,  Scott is uninsured.  I was insured just before I got pregnant so that I could be covered just in case (phew...having a baby stateside is expensive. We almost opted to have our baby in Grenada which, incidentally, would have cost about $3,000 out of pocket).  When we left on this journey, both Scott and I went uninsured.  This is a gamble when you're in the U S of A where an aspirin from hospital costs $15.  Abroad however, I have found the odds of finding affordable care much higher so we opted to risk it.

Before I continue on I would like to direct everyone to my DISCLAIMER.  Please read it before you read the rest of my post.  I'll wait...

(elevator music)

Great.  You're back.  Now back to my post...Keep in mind:  THIS IS COMING FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF A HEALTHY ADULT WITH NO PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS.

When I lived in Africa (3 years), I went uninsured.  While I was there, I was tested for malaria three times (never got it), suffered a horrible case of shell-fish food poisoning (the worst kind) and I battled one super nasty bout of dysentery (want to lose twenty pounds?  That'll do it!).  The malaria tests each cost me a whopping $1 USD (at the time) and - had I tested positive for malaria - the medicine would have cost something like $2 USD.  That's it.  When I got food poisoning I went on a drip for fluid and was given some sort of treatment (exactly what it was has since left my brain).  Whole thing cost me maybe $15.  When I got dysentery (a thoroughly unpleasant experience, I might add) I ended up in the hospital for two nights and received a bunch of IV's of fluid and a few handfulls of pills the size of cockroaches.  Granted, the hospital's only toilet was a hole in the ground (again - thoroughly unpleasant whilst suffering dysentery and attached to an IV) but the whole ordeal cost me something like $100 bucks give or take.  While I don't remember the exact dollars and cents, I do recall I had the money in my pocket to cover it all and I've never been one to walk around with too much money in my pocket.

What's my point you ask?  Well, two things:
1) Tropical places are the experts in diagnosing/treating tropical disease and
2) Health care in many other countries is suuuuuper affordable.

The little stuff like bumps, bruises, cuts, infections, tropical disease and probably even a broken bone, I'll happily pay a local doctor to treat.  The big stuff like transplants, transfusions, and anything that involves vital organs and/or your life hanging precariously on percentage points, well, I might want to be elsewhere.

One thing I heard a lot about throughout our travels was Divers Alert Network (D.A.N) membership and the subsequent Travelassist insurance that comes with it.  Many cruisers we met carry the membership and now that we're responsible parents, I thought we should too.  The particulars of the plan can be found HERE, but basically, in the event of a serious emergency in some remote locale (and it does not have to be dive-related), D.A.N will pay to transport you to a more developed locale that can treat your problems.  This is a pretty big deal and we paid a whopping $55 for our family membership.  There are other insurance plans D.A.N offers that you might want to consider depending on your situation, but the basic package will cover you for the evacuation.

While this is not health insurance, it does offer some peace of mind to know that if tragedy were to strike, we'd be able to get to somewhere where we will get better care.  Like they say, "It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye!"

What do you readers who cruise do for insurance?  Do you take the gamble or are you fully covered?  Anyone have any personal stories where D.A.N has helped out?  Please share your thoughts and experience in our comments so we ALL can learn!