Pet health insurance: New programs and news
By Gina Spadafori
January 14, 2008
We’re huge proponents of health insurance for pets here at Pet Connection. Have it, use it. When we have time to do some digging, we’re going to do an industry overview with some comparision shopping for pet-lovers, but in the meantime, we encourage you to look into the various companies and plans and get the one that’s right for you and yours.
Because … well, we’ll show you our respective veterinary bills if you need a “because.” “Economic euthanasia” — meaning you put your pet to death because you can’t afford care — is one of the saddest decisions a pet-lover has to make. Don’t leave yourself or your pets in a vulnerable position: Get pet health insurance. While it won’t cover everything, it may cover enough to help you out of a rough spot.
Advice: Even with pet health insurance, start putting money away now into an emergency fund. If you don’t use it, fine, roll it over to the next pet and keep adding to it every month. But “end of life” care can be expensive, as I know with Heather, who has had two relatively minor — but certainly not inexpensive — surgeries in the last eight months (three total in the last two years, including major surgery for a potential malignancy in her spleen.)
Two pet health insurance companies had news this morning. Veterinary Pet Insurance put out a list of the most common expensive claims, although I gotta say I never come home from a serious veterinary incident with a bills this low:
Veterinary Pet Insurance [...] recently analyzed medical claims submitted in 2007 to find the most expensive insured conditions* commonly suffered by dogs and cats. VPI ranked conditions based on the average fees attached to common claims from among its more than 460,000 pets insured nationwide.
The data revealed that the costliest conditions affected pets of all ages and breeds and often required diagnostic tests and emergency surgery. Average claimed fees for the priciest conditions ranged from $500 to nearly $3,000. Following are VPI’s Top 10 most expensive common conditions for dogs and cats, with the average claimed fee amounts submitted in 2007:
Dogs
Condition/Average Fee
1. Intervertebral Disc Disease $2,844
2. Lung Cancer $2,032
3. Gastric Torsion (Bloat) $1,955
4. Foreign Body Ingestion (Small Intestine) $1,629
5. Cruciate Rupture $1,517
6. Foreign Body Ingestion (Stomach) $1,398
7. Cataract (Senior) $1,244
8. Bone Cancer $1,059
9. Pin in Broken Limb $1,000
10. Brain Cancer $916
CatsCondition/Average Fee
1. Foreign Body Ingestion (Small Intestine) $1,629
2. Urinary Tract Reconstruction $1,399
3. Foreign Body Ingestion (Stomach) $1,391
4. Rectal Cancer $1,011
5. Bladder Stones $989
6. Intestinal Cancer $942
7. Hyperthyroidism (Radiation) $920
8. Fibrosarcoma (Skin Cancer) $780
9. Acute Renal Failure $565
10. Mast Cell Tumors $497*Treatment costs vary on a case by case basis. Dollar amounts reflect average initial claim fees submitted to VPI and are not intended to suggest typical reimbursements, reflect average national veterinary fees, or account for ongoing fees associated with a particular condition.
I’ll link to the entire media release when it’s somewhere other than in my mailbox.
Embrace Pet Insurance announced an alliance with the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary:
The two companies are working together to ensure that members of Best Friends can easily take advantage of a discount Embrace is offering to Best Friends’ adopters, supporters, and donors, as well as to visitors to the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah. In addition, starting today, Embrace will also make a $25 donation to Best Friends for each policy purchased by any Best Friends member.
Details can be found here: https://www.bestfriends.org/donate/affinity3.cfm#Embrace.
Here’s the rest.
I do find it encouraging that after many years of struggling to gain the attention and business of pet-lovers,the pet health insurance is finally doing well enough to attract a full field of competitors. That’s a good thing, for us all.
9. Acute Renal Failure $565?!
seems between testing and treatment i paid a tad more than that!!
5. Bladder Stones $989
hmmm,i think this may be what the Op costs in some places, but again, testing and treatments beyond the Op. . . I paid a higher rate just for the Op on a Dal and that was a rescue rate. all the other vettting was done through a shelter here. and the estimates for cats are def higher. i think you can easily spend 2x’s that here . . .
5. Cruciate Rupture $1,517
i have way more than that set aside for Dot should she blow one out :p i finally convinced her she didn’t need to run so hard she collapsed her front legs and/or smashed into a tree!
i’ll have to re-look into vet insurance. i haven’t looked for a few years, but when i did, for the pets i had, it didn’t seem worth it beyond Dot breaking or rupturing something. that’s why the savings account has been so important for me. came in handy with senior kitties . . .
Comment by straybaby — January 14, 2008 @ 2:27 pm
Honestly, I think a pet savings account AND health insurance is the thing.
If you get in a spot where — and I’ve been there — you max out a credit card (or even use Care Credit) then you’re really up a creek if something else happens before you can pay off the bill.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — January 14, 2008 @ 2:30 pm
The biggest problem with pet insurance, imo, is that you still need to have the money up front to cover things. And a lot of people just don’t have that, especially after they’ve paid that monthly premium. I think in certain cases, pet insurance can be an excellent investment, but I’m still not sold on the idea.
Comment by katie — January 14, 2008 @ 4:46 pm
One of my clients, a firm with about 1000 employees nationwide, made pet health insurance part of the employees’ benefit package. It was pretty popular and they are now looking into additional payroll deductions that will allow employees with pets [whether or not they have the insurance] bank a certain percentage of the salaries strictly for pet veterinary care, which can be drawn from as needed. Quite progressive.
Comment by Lynn — January 14, 2008 @ 5:04 pm
Wow. Pet health insurance as an employee benefit? You MUST be in California. That’s pretty cool. I see where one of the auto insurers is now covering the medical bills of pets injured in car wrecks — brilliant marketing ploy, for it must cost them next to nothing to offer this feature, but they are flogging it in their ads.
I had health insurance for two dogs via Fireman’s Fund many years ago, but they dropped the program. I’ve checked into what was available several times since, and always found that the policies were overpriced and had too many exclusions, especially age exclusions. They were cutting off at something like age eight! My guys are just *getting started* at that age.
Our SAR unit looked into health insurance for all the dogs about four years back. The premiums for one year would have wiped out the budget, AND the companies would not even consider insuring our two oldest dogs, one of whom was still operational and healthy as an ox. We opted to hold the cash in a fund instead.
If pet health insurance has become more cost-effective recently, I’d love to hear about it.
Comment by H. Houlahan — January 14, 2008 @ 10:58 pm
Katie
The biggest reason you need to pay up front is because veterinarians have made it loud and clear that they do not want *any* insurance company, pet or otherwise, meddling in their relationship with you, their client.
Many pet insurance companies, mine included, are happy to reimburse the veterinarian directly provided your veterinarian is comfortable with that. But there is no structured process in place for this at the moment, it’s on a case-by-case basis.
HTH.
Comment by Alex Krooglik — January 15, 2008 @ 10:46 am
Wow, I remember the days when I could not get anyone to see the value of pet insurance (early 1990s).
You probably already caught it, but Progressive is offering pet injury insurance now. It is an additional to their auto insurance.
Someone mentioned a pet savings account—there are many trusts for animals these days—and last I heard about half of the US states recognized them.
Ultimately, with the price of veterinary care today, you should get the insurance.
And yes, I live in California where many places have additional insurance for pets as a perk for employees.
Comment by Diana Guerrero — January 15, 2008 @ 10:51 am
“The biggest reason you need to pay up front is because veterinarians have made it loud and clear that they do not want any insurance company, pet or otherwise, meddling in their relationship with you, their client.”
Well, looking at the wonders of human health insurance in the US, can you blame them? And I certainly don’t blame vets for not wanting to get stuck in the middle, between an insurance company that won’t cover all the costs and the client who assumed they would.
Comment by katie — January 15, 2008 @ 11:09 am
. I’ve checked into what was available several times since, and always found that the policies were overpriced and had too many exclusions, especially age exclusions. They were cutting off at something like age eight! My guys are just getting started at that age.
Pets Best took my senior dog Rebel when no one else would… he was 8, just turned nine a couple of weeks ago. He’s been insured with them since last March.
I found this out when I went to change my Borozi, Kyrie, from VPI to Pets Best when Pets Best announced they’d waive the deductible for their clients suffering from eating recalled foods. I thought that was classy and checked them out. And found to my shock that they, unlike every other company I applied to even a year earlier, would insure Rebel.
Comment by Christie Keith — January 15, 2008 @ 11:24 am
8. Bone Cancer $1,059
Even if you add a zero, it’s not close to the $14,000 I spent on Raven.
Comment by Christie Keith — January 15, 2008 @ 11:26 am
Comment by Christie Keith — January 15, 2008 @ 11:24 am
yeah, age was one of the issues when i was sourcing insurance in the past. i had 5 cats over 8 or whatever the age was. right now i have 3 (15, 15, 8, 4, 2). and my dog is getting close to cut off on some with her ‘real’ age. some of her shelter papers have her listed as 4yrs older than she is, but that will now come in handy to avoid vacs, lol!~ she’s either turning 6, 8 or 10 next month! i don’t think pets best is available here. i seem to remember checking someone out during the recall.
Comment by straybaby — January 15, 2008 @ 2:01 pm
The way I see it, you do need to have the money [or credit card funds] up front, but the insurance is a little back-up that softens the blow of the cost of pet care.
Comment by Lynn — January 15, 2008 @ 4:22 pm
The cheapest plan I have seen for major medical is Petplan at gopetplan.com It cost about $187 for a year old dog, $20,000 per year, $200 deductible and 0% coinsurance. I am not concerned about a couple hundred dollar bill, it is the several thousand dollar or chronic condition I would want to avoid. My five year old would cost quite a bit more, so not sure if I will get it, but for the cost Petplan still seems the least expensive.
Comment by Erich Riesenberg — January 17, 2008 @ 6:28 am
Also, petinsurancereview.com was helpful in reading comments by other insurance shoppers and it allowed me to get multiple quotes, which helped highlight cost and coverage differences. Embrace might be a second choice, but the price was a tiny bit more for less coverage, at $10,000 per year and a 10% co-pay.
Comment by Erich Riesenberg — January 17, 2008 @ 6:49 am
Sorry, one more thing, with reading Embrace, be mindful of the continuing care option.
Continuing Care Reimbursement Limit
The maximum reimbursement you can receive in any given year for chronic conditions is 25% of your policy maximum. For example, if you choose $10,000 as your annual maximum then your continuing care coverage provides up to $2,500 (25% x $10,000) of protection against any chronic conditions that your pet required treatment for.
That doesn’t seem to be the case with Petplan. I think that is a big difference from human insurance, for conditions which occur while a policy is in force to then be considered pre existing even if the policy is continuously renewed.
http://gopetplan.com/WhyPetPlan/CoverForLife.html
Comment by Erich Riesenberg — January 17, 2008 @ 6:57 am
Erich,
Just wondering what pet insurance did you go with? Petplan or Embrace?
Comment by cheryl — February 27, 2008 @ 9:06 pm
Pet insurance has been increasing in popularity recently, due in large part to the advances of veterinary science. Vets today can offer treatments and procedures that were unheard of just a few years ago, such as radiation therapy, transplants, and MRIs. However, these new treatments are not cheap; veterinary costs have risen over 70% in the past five years, to over $19 billion last year.
Pet health policies are similar to human insurance policies; annual premiums, deductibles, and various coverage based upon what the owner chooses. Most plans also have co-pays and caps that limit how much will be paid out anually.
Items to be aware of:
Some policies won’t cover older pets
Certain breeds are excluded from coverage
Pre-existing conditions are normally excluded
Mmost insurers offer a multi-pet discount
Policy costs vary widely, depending on the animal and the different packages that the owner can choose. Some packages are comprehensive, including such things as annual checkups and vaccinations, spaying/neutering, death benefits and even reimbursement for offering a reward for lost pets. Other plans cover only accidents and illness.
Comment by Jack Stepongzi — June 23, 2009 @ 5:46 pm
I would like to get pet insurance for my dog but I’m going crazy trying to decide what company/s are reputable. I don’t want any hassels if my dog becomes ill and they won’t pay. Its my understanding they could come up with a 1000 reasons not to pay. That’s scarey when you can’t afford the enormous vet fees.
Undecided in NJ
Comment by JanetM — August 18, 2009 @ 9:13 am