The idea of having to euthanize your pet because you can’t afford vet expenses is heartbreaking and, sadly, happens too often to many people. Fortunately, there are payment alternatives that can save your pet when they get ill or if an emergency happens to them. The best payment option out there is pet insurance.

Pet insurance is health insurance for your pet, which means it will cover much of the cost of treatments instead of paying out of pocket.

So, is pet insurance worth it?

Absolutely! If you have pets in your household, the possibility of them getting sick is 99%. Pet Health care costs can cost you thousands at the most unexpected times. Pet insurance is a safety net and will give you peace of mind and coverage when your fur-ever friend does get sick. It can cover emergencies, annual wellness visits, and chronic illnesses. This means you will be able to afford to keep your pet’s quality of life good as long as possible. As a veterinary hospital, we encourage pet owners to get on a pet insurance plan as soon as they can.

There are many out there, so it’s best to do some research. Most offer flexible pricing with different types of coverage.

How It Works

Pet insurance is not exactly like human insurance. For starters, depending on your coverage, pre-existing conditions are not covered. These are injuries or illnesses that show symptoms before your plan goes into effect.

Once you’ve found the best pet insurance for your pet, you will either sign up online or via phone. You will provide information about your pet’s age, breed, etc., and they will offer you types of coverage with a price specifically tailored for your pet.

These types of coverage include:

Endorsements

These are wellness and cancer add-ons. The add-on options depend on your carrier.

Waiting Period

Once you choose your coverage plan and payment is submitted, you will enter a “waiting period”, which typically lasts 14 days.

After the waiting period is over, you can now use pet insurance at your veterinary hospital. Unlike human medical insurance, you have to pay the animal hospital. You will submit your insurance claims to your pet insurance provider, and they will reimburse you. Please note: this is something you will have to do. The animal hospital is not responsible for contacting your pet insurance provider.

Pricing

There are many factors that your provider will consider when giving you a price. These include the type of policy and its specifics. The specifics are the policy’s deductible and reimbursement. Pet age, pet breed, and other factors, including location, are considered as well.

Deductible

The deductible is the amount you pay for covered health services before the reimbursement starts. This can range anywhere from $0 to $1000.

There are two types of deductibles that carriers usually provide.

Annual Deductible

With an annual deductible, you must meet your deductible only once per policy term. This means that once the deductible has been met for the policy term, then the claim reimbursement only subtracts the copay until the policy renewal when the annual deductible resets.

This is a stable and predictable deductible. Only having one deductible to meet will allow some room for any accidents that may occur.

Annual deductibles are simple and easy to use because you only pay once per year for each pet. It doesn’t matter how often your pet gets sick and goes to the animal hospital or emergency room; you will still only have to meet the deductible once.

Per-Incident Deductible

Per-incident, also known as a per-condition, is applied every time your pet visits their vet for a new ailment. If your pet is seen for several medical issues, these plans could reimburse you less when you file a claim. These can be quite expensive if your pet visits the veterinarian several times in one year.

Reimbursement

As mentioned before, pet insurance is not like human medical insurance. These policies are reimbursement-based, which means you will have to pay upfront for your pet’s medical bills. For any reimbursement, a claim will need to be submitted to your pet insurance provider.

Coverage will be provided once the deductible has been paid for. There are reimbursement percentages that the plan covers. Typical percentage options are usually 70%, 80%, or 90% of the medical expenses. If you want a higher level of reimbursement, the pet insurance cost will be higher.

Pet’s Breed

Your pet’s breed is considered when your provider determines your insurance cost. This is because different breeds come with various predisposed illnesses resulting in more veterinarian visits and higher medical expenses.

Dogs are the most expensive pet. They are followed by cats, then the exotics such as birds, reptiles, rabbits, and ferrets.

Pet’s Age

Another factor your provider will consider is your pet’s age. The older your pet, the higher the price. This is because senior pets tend to have more illnesses and visits to the veterinarian.

Location

Your location can change the price of your pet insurance. This will depend on where you live and local veterinary costs.

Common Expenses Covered by Pet Insurance

So the next question is, What does pet insurance cover?

Here are the health-related problems most pet insurance plans cover:

Hereditary Conditions

Such as hip dysplasia, eye disorders, and blood disorders

Wellness Procedures

Such as vaccinations, parasite control, and spay/neuter

Not all plans will cover everything on this list. If you want a less expensive plan, you can purchase one with fewer benefits. If you wonder what types of plans are available, scroll up to our info section, where the plans are explained.

What is Not Covered By Pet Insurance?

Here is a list of exclusions:

Grooming

Grooming includes baths, shampoos, nail trims, anal gland expressions, and pet dye. These are not covered by insurance.

Non-veterinary Expenses

These include waste disposal services, record access or copying, license or certification, dog registration.

Client Testimonials

Still not sold on pet insurance? Here are some of our client’s stories.

 A Word from Our Chief of Staff

This is pulled from our Spaying and Neutering Your Pet Part 2 Podcast.

“… We have mentioned several diseases, issues, and problems that can come from not spaying or neutering your pets. I want to just make sure that we give you an opportunity to head some of these financial hits off at the pass. Get pet insurance. We encourage every pet owner to just do the sensible thing. We all know that when we get a car, we get car insurance. Even though you don’t know if you’re going to get into a car crash, you assume that you will not, yet you gladly (most of the time) pay your insurance, knowing that you have protection financially from some possible issue. Every single pet is going to have a “car crash.” Every single one of them. They are oftentimes going to have multiple car crashes, and they are going to be unpredictable and expensive.

You can’t necessarily just “total it” and move on to the next one without a significant negative consequence emotionally to your family. You need to get pet insurance if you have a pet. It’s pretty mind-blowing sometimes to see how much money people are recovering on their claims for these “car crashes” that your pet may get into.

As a veterinarian myself, I do have pet insurance on our family pets. Primarily, I got woken up to this issue when we decided to get a golden retriever. Funny enough, right? We said this breed has a 60% cancer risk. Yet, Golden Retrievers are the most common breed for veterinarians to have because their personality is so reliable and great. I told my wife to just anticipate that we’re going to have to use the services of another veterinarian at some point for our retriever, named “Fezzik Hodor”. So, if and when Fezzi gets cancer, I’m going to end up needing a specialist to treat him. I don’t really want to expose myself financially to that and make it, so I have to make a decision between: “Do I treat him for his cancer, which (most of the time they do really well with treatment), or do I not?” I don’t want that to be a purely financial decision. So I’m trying to not be a hypocrite, as well. But, I’m very glad that I have pet insurance because I’ve actually already used it a couple of times for several of my pets. There are many good companies out there. The point really is to get insurance for your pet.”

Where to Start

We recommend going to petinsurancereview.com to find the best possible insurance for your pet. This website is an informative and reliable resource for pet parents like yourself. Their main objective is to provide a clear explanation of each insurer’s policy benefits and pricing. They offer all pet parents the opportunity to share their own personal experiences of their insurance company.

Pet insurance can be confusing, but taking the time to research and choosing the right one for you can save you a lot of money and heartbreak. Ask any veterinarian- they will recommend that you get your pet on an insurance plan!

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About The Author

Kelsie Richards, Marketing Specialist |Kelsie joined the staff late in fall of 2020. She came to us with a variety of experience in the field and having successfully spearheaded social media and marketing for multiple small businesses. Outside of work, Kelsie loves to spend time with her dog ‘Daisy’, roller skating and going to Disneyland. Kelsie will be keeping you up to date with all the happenings on our social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and even TikTok — with photos and videos, pet health tips and ways to keep your fur-babies happy and healthy.

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