Pet Insurance: Does your pet need it?

No (c) Herwig Kavallar                      "Yellow Labrador"

It’s the New Year and there were many pets across America that were bought or adopted for Christmas. New pet owners now have a wonderful new puppy or kitten and may or may not be thinking about illness or injuries with this new pet. Some pet owners have thought about pet insurance and others think it is a waste of money. There are so many websites on the internet that tell you their policies are the best and they provide you the best coverage for a pet. Just what do these co-called policies actually cover, do the have a set fee for your pet, do the fees change with your pets’ age and does a pet owner need to provide pet insurance before a particular age before certain benefits are covered? There are so many questions about people health insurance that never gets explained until the very moment they need it and then realize that was never part of their plan. Does this sound familiar; it is no different with pets.

 There is a website called Trupanion. They are an insurance company that will provide you a quote based upon the pet, the age, the breed and the pets’ location. This quote is then shown side-by-side to the pet owner with other insurance companies. This is no different than going on to a website and shopping for car insurance. Trupanion insurance shows pet owners what they cover versus what the other companies cover. The companies that Trupanion quotes against are VPI, Petcare, Petplan, Pets Best, ASPCA, PurinaCare, Embrace and PetFirst. Pet insurance is only for unforeseen problems and accidents. It is not for routine check-ups, vaccinations or in some cases chronic or pre-existing conditions. If you have a pet breed that is prone to hip dysplasia, then you can pay extra for insurance against that but usually only up to the first birthday. There are many considerations to think about before getting pet insurance and when to get it. Finding out how the pet insurance companies work is the first step.  Most rates do increase as your pet ages, Trupanion does not. Most companies do not cover chronic conditions and may even consider them pre-existing conditions upon renewal of the policy which in fact makes it not covered, Trupanion does not. Some companies pay based upon their “usual and customary prices” which means they determine what that should cost and pay based upon that and not the actual bill from the veterinarian, Trupanion pays based upon the actual bill.

Just as a comparison to show pricing differences and what policies cost. This comparision was done for a Labrador retriever living in California. This plan was for a $100 deductible. The monthly premium would be about $32.00 from Trupanion but would be about $57.00 from PurinaCare, $45.00 from PetCare, $93.00 from Embrace and only $26.00 from the ASPCA but they are limiting pet owners to a $1500.00 per incident limit. Now if the pet is very healthy, then the premiums are just paid and no return, but if the pet has an issue then the payout is big. All these insurance companies usually make it customary to make the owner pay the bill and submit a claim to get reimbursed. Over the course of a year at a $32.00 premium a pet owner will have paid out $384.00 not including routine pet care costs. If your dog got out and got hit by a car and fractured its pelvic area it could cost a pet owner around $3,700.00 but with the insurance it could cost them $370.00. With a year of premiums, the total cost for everything would only be $754.00 which is $2,946 less than the initial veterinarian bill. More often than not, pet owners just play Russian roulette with their pets and their health issues. There are ways to help, if pet owners would just look out there and see what is available to them. The American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) has a booklet that explains the need of insurance for pets, click here for the details.
 

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