Health Insurance

[Guest billschoe]

I am looking for some help in finding the optimum health insurance for my new rescue greyhound.

Edited January 22, 2010 by billschoe

[Guest Energy11]

I have FIVE, all seniors, seven throught nine, enrolled in Trupanion. ONLY one who'd cover seniors. I JUST submitted my first claim this week, so I will keep you posted. Might be worth a look! Good Luck!

[brandimom]

Bill, this is Sharon Haugen. I am so excited to see that you have joined GT. I know you will get some responses.

 

GT folks - I am the placement rep for Bill, Bonnie and their adoptable greyhound, Bizzi. We just placed Bizzi with them last weekend.

[Guest moremoney]

I use VPI pet insurance.

[seeh2o]

Welcome to GT from rainy SoCal! Congrats to you with your new pooch!

 

I'm a BIG fan of pet insurance and have been for quite a while. I have Carl & Claire on a family plan with PetFirst, my monthly payment is $43 and change. The first year I had Carl I had submitted at least $1500 in claims for him. They paid everything they said they would, 90% after the $50 per incident deductible - without question! They also pay fairly quickly. I don't buy the routine coverage stuff as I can get vaccinations much cheaper locally, it just isn't cost effective for me.

 

Sheila, my non-grey, is 14 and with PetCare. I'd like to have her on the family plan, but she is too old, so I keep her with PetCare. She bloated last Jan, the bill was $1900 and they paid 70% (the plan I have her on) after the $100 deductible.

 

PetCare was just way too expensive for purebreds and offered a lot less coverage for the $ for Carl & Claire. I had VPI in the past, but switched after a year as I found them very much lacking.

 

I studied this pet insurance review website, which someone had posted here on GT, in making my decision to go with PetFirst.

Edited January 22, 2010 by ckruzan

[Guest bigbrindlebunny]

Welcome to GT from rainy SoCal! Congrats to you with your new pooch!

 

I'm a BIG fan of pet insurance and have been for quite a while. I have Carl & Claire on a family plan with PetFirst, my monthly payment is $43 and change. The first year I had Carl I had submitted at least $1500 in claims for him. They paid everything they said they would, 90% after the $50 per incident deductible - without question! They also pay fairly quickly. I don't buy the routine coverage stuff as I can get vaccinations much cheaper locally, it just isn't cost effective for me.

 

Sheila, my non-grey, is 14 and with PetCare. I'd like to have her on the family plan, but she is too old, so I keep her with PetCare. She bloated last Jan, the bill was $1900 and they paid 70% (the plan I have her on) after the $100 deductible.

 

PetCare was just way too expensive for purebreds and offered a lot less coverage for the $ for Carl & Claire. I had VPI in the past, but switched after a year as I found them very much lacking.

 

I studied this pet insurance review website, which someone had posted here on GT, in making my decision to go with PetFirst.

 

Thanks for the tips! They're much appreciated!

[ahicks51]

Here's a decent website that gives ratings and reviews of the major pet insurance plans.

 

http://www.petinsurancereview.com/index.asp

[Guest zoolaine]

I have all of mine on PetFirst and really like them. In fact right now I am at a specialist/emergency vet with Sunny. The bill is going to probably be $500-$750 and PetFirst should pay all but $50 and 10%. It has more than paid for itself. They really specialize in multi pet families so I'm not sure how they compare price wise for just one dog. But they do have great service and I like that they pay 90% of what your vet charges and does not use some payment fee schedule.

[Guest eaglflyt]

We have our girl covered with Embrace Pet Insurance. They have been FANTASTIC. I generally receive reimbursement in less than a week. They have been helpful, caring and courteous. I highly recommend them. I did a LOT of investigating with several different companies and read tons of reviews before choosing to go with Embrace. I'm thrilled that we did!

[Guest Swifthounds]

I looked at the different plans, but I have too many dogs at too many different ages for it to be worthwhile. I have a savings account for them and an "emergency only" credit card that I don't touch for anything else.

[Guest Fasave]

I have one pup on VPI because it was one of the few around when I adopted him almost seven years ago. They've gotten better but when I got my new dog, I chose Embrace. My issue with VPI is that they reimburse on a Benefits Schedule based on final diagnosis. That means if the vet doesn't know what's wrong and wants to do a $1,200 MRI and they find nothing, you're not getting anything reimbursed. At Embrace, you can choose your annual allowance and co-pay along with other options. Whatever the outcome, if you are in the amount of the allowance you chose, you will only pay the deductible (annual not per incidence) and the co-pay. Extra bonus is that they cover some holistic treatments like aquatherapy, accupuncture, etc.

 

For me having insurance on my dogs is like car insurance. I pay half in pet insurance on two dogs than I pay in car insurance on two old cars. I haven't had a car insurance claim in 15+ years. I wish I could say the same thing about vet bills.

[GeorgeofNE]

VPI would not cover George because of a creatinine value that is TOTALLY normally for a Greyhound, but skews as "out of range" on their little charts. VPI would not cover anything orthopedic in my last dog because he had torn his ACL on one leg--made it totally worthless. Most of these companies do NOT cover pre-existing conditions, so if you've ever had your dog or cat treated for something, you're out of luck on that front.

 

I have ASPCA's basic coverage for George and one of my cats (Siamese cats are prone to dental disease). It doesn't cover anything routine, and unfortunately, where I live, the actual cost versus their "customary amount" that they'll pay is so wildly different, I'm probably not going to renew.

 

I looked at one of the links in one of the posts above; the annual limit for "routine care" was less than the cost of ONE visit to my vet!

 

If you add the monthly premiums up, the deductible, and then assume they reimburse 80% of what they consider "customary," for me it has NOT worked out well. It does offer some limited peace of mind...

[Guest Energy11]

Dr. Karen just filed my claims to Trupanion. I will let you know what they covered, and how long it took. To ME, most of the other insurances, woudl not cover seniors, or only for "accidents," and not medical issues. Trupanion covers everything, pretty much, except "pre-existing" conditions! Wish it were different, especially with Curfew.

[Guest eaglflyt]

Embrace has customizable policies. We have an *annual* $200 deductible, and 90% of all charges are reimbursed once the annual deductible has been met. We have an annual $10,000 coverage ... it renews each year. Your pet will NEVER be dropped because of health status! Congenital conditions are covered and your pet will never age out. Premiums are NOT based on claims filed from the previous year. The ONLY premium increases are based on the dog's age and the inflation of veterinary expenses across the board (usually about 3% - 5% annually, I believe). There are NO fee schedules! Alternative therapies are also covered. The only exclusions are pre-existing conditions. Chemotherapy, surgeries, all types of cancer treatment are covered. Even if Ady Bea had a $5,000 vet bill, our portion would only be $500. With their customizable policies, you can choose what you do and do not want. We have had several claims since having the insurance coverage and have never had any problems. They do what they say! : ) For us, we have peace of mind that our $36 per month premium is preventing us from ever having to choose care for our girl limited by our budget.

 

When considering insurance, it's always best to get your dog covered early to prevent any pre-existing conditions issues.

 

If we hadn't gone with Embrace, Trupanion would have been our 2nd choice.

 

This site (pet insurance reviews) may help you with your decision.

[Wendie]

I have ASPCA Pet Health Insurance for both of mine. Joe is only eligible for accident insurance because of his mystery nose ailment and that runs $9 a month and covers any sort of accident, whether it be a cut paw or a fight with a squirrel. Daisy is covered by both the illness and accident insurance and that is $16 a month. We've been with them for nearly three years now and are very happy with them.

[KahluasMagic]

I have PetsBest. I haven't had any problems with them.

[Guest Gemma]

We use Pets Best, and we have just emergency cover. Thankfully, we haven't had cause to use it yet. I've been happy with their prices and communication so far.

[MP_the4pack]

I have VPI because it was one of few carriers 8 yrs ago. I didn't switch because Pearl was diagnosed with heart disease and hypertension.

And Onyx is a senior at 14 now, so even just a few years ago, she was a senior. So it wasn't worth it.

Luckily I was grandfathered for double cancer coverage for Pearl.

 

They refused to insure Diamond who was vet-bill free up until just last Oct when she got OS. By then, VPI would have reaped a lot of money from me. I would have had the Superior Plan with Double cancer. Oh well......their loss actually.

When Pearl and Onyx are gone I'm looking for another carrier.

[Guest kydie]

I have ASPCA for mine, no problems, but will look in to the Embrace, I would like to pick and choose what I want

[Guest 3greysinPA]

I am interested in hearing about this as well.

thank you to all who have posted.

[Guest zoolaine]

Sunny's vet bill on Friday was $587 so I will have to pay $108.70 and PetFirst should reimburse $478. I am really happy with them. There may be some plans with slightly better coverage but for the price PetFirst was by far the best option for me. I have two 3 dog plans that are $79 so about $26 per month per dog. I do have the routine coverage; each dog gets $220 of routine benefits per year. I figure that I use probably about $200 of it. "Senior" starts at age 10. And they told me that they go with the majority so if you have 2 younger dogs and one older dog the older one can stay on the plan. So my 3 older dogs have 2 more years before they have to switch to the senior plan, which is quite expensive and the benefits are reduced.