Comments on: Pet health insurance: New programs and news

By: cheryl

cheryl — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 04:06:03 +0000

Erich,
Just wondering what pet insurance did you go with? Petplan or Embrace?

By: Erich Riesenberg

Erich Riesenberg — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 13:57:31 +0000

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

By: Erich Riesenberg

Erich Riesenberg — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 13:49:08 +0000

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.

By: Erich Riesenberg

Erich Riesenberg — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 13:28:49 +0000

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.

By: Lynn

Lynn — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 23:22:08 +0000

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.

By: straybaby

straybaby — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 21:01:33 +0000

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.

By: Christie Keith

Christie Keith — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 18:26:06 +0000

8. Bone Cancer $1,059

Even if you add a zero, it’s not close to the $14,000 I spent on Raven.

By: Christie Keith

Christie Keith — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 18:24:53 +0000

. 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.

By: katie

katie — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 18:09:38 +0000

“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.

By: Diana Guerrero

Diana Guerrero — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 17:51:27 +0000

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.