Pet Insurance
First and foremost: pet Insurance is not right for everyone. Many insurance plans range from $38 – $70, depending on your choice of coverage, reimbursement, deductibles, and benefits. We strongly urge everyone to research pet insurance to decide if it’s right for your family and your new puppy. Here are some broad points we’d like you to consider when beginning your research.
Coverage: There are three types of coverage in pet insurance: Comprehensive, Wellness, and Accidents Only.
- Comprehensive covers both accidents and illnesses – from broken bones, swallowing a foreign object, to diabetes and cancer
- Wellness or Preventative Care covers basic vet visits for visits handling vaccinations, annual visits, and heartworm prevention.
- Accidents is exactly what it sounds like – basically any problems your pup gets into which isn’t illness or disease related.
Deductibles: A deductible is your personal payment prior to the pet insurance company covering the bill. Pet Insurance has changed drastically over the past decade. Many companies now offer customizing your reimbursement and deductible percentages. This ranges between 50% to 100% depending on the insurance company. Generally speaking, the less you pay monthly to the insurance company the more you pay at the vet and vice versa.
4 Benefit Limits:
- Lifetime Benefits – No ceiling on coverage after original deductible is paid.
- Per Incident Annual – Usually regarding an illness or disease, companies create a cap in how much they’re willing to cover.
- Maximum Annual – Some companies create a set amount as to how much they’re willing to pay out annually.
- Lifetime Maximum – A company sets a cap as to how much they’re willing to pay regarding an individual pet’s full life.
Other Points to Consider:
- It is very rare for pet insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions. Should you choose to get pet insurance, earlier is most likely better.
- Most pet insurance companies require you to pay the veterinarian bill out of pocket, reimbursing you at a later time.
- Different insurance companies have better track records when it comes to reimbursement time and communication. If this is important to you, read multiple customer reviews from multiple sources before deciding.
- Many insurance companies include medication and treatment within plans – but not all.
- Most insurance companies do not cover dental unless the dental issue is accidental.