Do You Need Pet Insurance?

As you can imagine, after Xena was diagnosed with Splenic Hemangiosarcoma about two months ago, the number of our visits to the hospital has gone up exponentially. In the beginning, we were going almost every day.

Understandably, pet insurance has been a hot topic people have been asking me about lately. And, I noticed that many people aren’t familiar with it, so I decided to write about it.

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I hope you never have to deal with it but your pet can fall ill or have an accident at any age. When someone tells me that they will consider getting the insurance when their dog(or cat) gets older, it makes me cringe.

Caring for a sick pet can get costly very quickly. A lot of people have no choice but to say goodbye to their beloved family members too soon because they can’t afford the treatment.

I had pet insurance for Xena before she was diagnosed with cancer because I wanted to be able to afford medical care if something happened.

Without the insurance covering the majority of the cost, I couldn’t have afforded the emergency surgery in January. The ongoing chemotherapy and supplemental treatments would put a financial burden, too.

My philosophy on this always has been, quality of life before prolonging life. With the treatments, she is 100% back to being happy and active. At the age of 12, she is still hitting the trails mile after mile every week. She is enjoying her life and the cancer didn’t cripple her will to live. Having the pet insurance helped me to help her to do that.

Before there was Xena, I had Moose. Combined, I have 20+ years of pet care experience. I don’t pretend to be an expert on this matter. I just want to share what I know in case this information helps others.

5 Things You Need To Know About Pet Insurance

There were only a few options when I was in the market for Moose. The pet insurance sector has grown so much since I got my first insurance in 2002.

1. Today, insurance companies offer policies with various deductible limits and co-pay options. Some cover wellness/preventive care in addition to illness and accidents and some don’t. Some cover exam fees and some don’t. Not all pet insurances are the same.

Healthy Paws, Spot, Figo, Pets Best, and Pumpkin are some of the popular pet insurances in the market.

Many big corporations now offer pet insurance as part of the benefits. Nationwide seems to be the choice of workplace benefits.

Compare the policy coverages/reimbursement choices/deductible choices, and then choose the right policy for your pet(s).

New to insurance terminology? Here are quick tips for the newbies –

Example Scenario: You have an insurance policy with 80% reimbursement and 20% co-pay with a $500 deductible limit.

• Deductible: You need to pay $500 out-of-pocket before the insurance coverage kicks in. A higher deductible means a lower monthly premium. A lower deductible means a higher monthly premium. The deductible limit applies at the policy level and not at the claim level. After you pay $500 toward the deductible, the 80%/20% reimbursement/co-pay structure kicks in.
• Co-pay: After you pay the deductible, the insurance will cover 80% of the claim and you will need to cover the rest 20%. That 20% out-of-pocket is your co-pay portion. This happens for every claim during the policy term. Not all items on your vet bill will be covered, though. Your policy will state what’s covered and what’s not. Remember, you will be responsible for the 20% co-pay and the items not covered by your policy.

If too many options overwhelm you, just focus on the Why. Why do you want the insurance? For example, do you want it in case of an emergency or for a possible breed-specific health condition that may require frequent visits to the vet down the road?

2. Get the insurance when your pet is healthy. Most companies don’t cover existing conditions.

Some dog breeds are more susceptible to allergies. Some dog breeds are more susceptible to certain health conditions. Plan for the future.

I adopted both Xena and Moose. I didn’t know for sure what type of mixed breed they were. Not to be surprised by breed-related health conditions down the road, I got pet insurance for peace of mind.

3. The premium goes up each year as your pet gets older.

And a heads up, supplements are not covered by insurance even if it’s recommended by your vet or a specialist. Prescribed drugs are covered according to your policy coverage option.

4. Most pet insurance companies make you pay up-front at the vet for treatments and tests and submit the claims afterward.

Read the online reviews from the current policyholders before you purchase a policy. What is the turnaround time for the reimbursement? Did they run into any surprises? Do they send you a check or offer direct deposit?

Paw Protect offers customers an optional $2,000 interest-free line of credit via a virtual Visa card from Paytient(*subject to approval) to pay covered vet bills up-front.

Regardless of your choice for pet insurance, I highly recommend looking into getting a CareCredit. You can get the healthcare you need and pay over time with promotional financing options for purchases over $200(*subject to approval). I love that you and your pet can use this credit card for medical-related transactions if an emergency happens. It buys me 6+ months to pay off the medical bill!

5. If you change your policy in the mid-term to lower the monthly premium by increasing the deductible limit, you can. However, you can’t reverse the policy easily. You can only do it during the renewal time and there has to be no claim for a year before the company lets you.

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I got insurance for peace of mind, hoping I’d never have to need it. But when life throws you a curve ball and I needed it to work for me, having pet insurance gave me options when I had to choose treatments for Xena.

First, it allowed me to pay for the surgery to save her life and then for the tests she needed to determine the best treatment option that made sense for her. Instead of choosing an option based on affordability alone which might not be the best option for Xena.

Like my friend, Janet always says, “It’s not like they can go get a job to pay for the treatments they need. I’m sure they would if they could! So we need to help them.”