Pet Insurance

[Guest Chucko]

I have never had any before, but have been thinking of getting some when I get my Greyhound. I am just beginning to check this out, but wanted to hear which companies people have had good results with and what kind of things are not covered.

 

Thanks,

Chucko

[Walliered]

I have Trupanion on my two hounds. I just submitted a claim and it paid 90% with absolutely no problems. I also like the idea it has no ceiling each year.

[RedFawnMom]

We use Embrace. When I posted the same question here last year, several people responded saying they were happy with them. We've been happy with them so far but have only filed "wellness" claims. We'll be filing our first illness claim in the next week or so, but DH called them to ask about it and they didn't give any indication that it would be a problem. We just take a claim form with us to the vet and the vet writes a short description of the reason for the visit, stamps it, and we mail it off with itemized receipts. Very easy. DH asked them about coverage for specialists and they said there's no referral or anything needed.

 

I like Embrace because they don't have many restrictions on what they'll cover. They recently changed their plans so that there is a max lifetime limit per condition (varies with your plan - I think our max is $10k per condition) rather than a max annual limit per condition, which is great. They have tons of options for deductibles, etc. The only thing I'm not happy with is that they changed their "Wellness Rewards" program so that there are separate Wellness programs for dental vs. everything else. So now, I can't use our Wellness plan to pay for routine dentals, but I don't want to sign up for the dental wellness plan because I don't know that we'll do a dental every year.

 

Stay away from VPI - I have heard nothing but bad things.

[Guest Chucko]

Thank you Walliered and RedFawnMom, I will be looking into both of them, and VPI is a definite no then.

[Guest Vers]

When I was looking for insurance, previous posts here were helpful, as well as pet insurance reviews. Trupanion was my first choice, but their plans are not available in this state yet. Embrace was a close second, and the one I went with. I am happy with them -- good, clear communications -- but have not filed a claim yet (knock on wood).

 

One thing you'll probably want to consider is how you primarily intend to use the insurance. In my case, my concern was not wellness/routine coverage, but major or catastrophic illness. So I chose a plan that fits that, with a high deductible and a high limit.

[Guest Fasave]

Definitely stay away from VPI. I have it on my senior because there were so few options 7 years ago. They reimburse on "diagnosis". I had it on my other senior last year who passed away. He had everything and nothing wrong with him and it was impossible to figure out how to submit claims. I will say with my current senior who has had various cancer diagnosis, with the cancer rider which I chose, I am ahead of the game with them so I really shouldn't complain.

 

With my young guy, I chose Embrace. I had it narrowed down to Trupanion & Embrace and I chose Embrace because they cover alternative therapies like acupuncture, hydro therapy, etc. If you are at all interested in these types of treatment for your pup potentially, this is worth considering. I know when I did chose acupuncture for one of my pups, it was a recommended 10 week (once a week) treatment plan at $80/visit (total $800). A side note, I'm not sure how old your pup is but my guy just turned five and there was a $12/month increase in his premium. When I called, they said between 4 - 5 years of age is when they make the biggest jump in premiums.

 

On another note, I've heard that Trupanion will cover senior dogs.

[Guest Energy11]

I have Trupanion, and I LOVE it! They are easy to work with, pay 90%, and I pay to have no deductible. As with any insurance, they don't cover preexisting conditions. I'd highly recommend them!

[Guest Chucko]

What I have seen so far goes right along with what all of you are saying, Trupanion and Embrace are the two top choices. But I think I will also compare the ASPCA to both of them too. I like the idea of Embrace covering alternative therapies like acupuncture, hydro therapy, etc., I will definitely be considering that. The Hound I am going to be seeing soon just turned 2 years old, so I have a little time before a premium increase. Good point Vers, I will be printing out information to compare, but I have noticed that routine visits are not usually covered. That is not a major concern, I was able to afford all of Sasha's vet bills, including medicine and surgeries. I am just hoping to reduce my cost on the big things and maybe the meds. Heartworm and flea/tick preventives were running about $300 a year. I bought mine through my vet with the thinking that they would know of recalls and possible problems long before I could find out, so I never did look into PetMeds or any of them.

 

Thank you all, everyone has giving me something else to consider that I have not thought of yet. This is why I love GTers.

 

Chucko

[RedFawnMom]

Regarding heartworm and flea/tick meds - The Wellness Rewards program that Embrace has will cover those. You basically pay $150/year (if you pay it up front - it's more like $180 if you pay monthly) and get $200 to spend on any routine stuff - vaccinations, heartworm meds, flea/tick stuff, wellness exams, routine bloodwork, etc.

 

Good luck. The earlier you insure, the better. You'll get a better rate going into it the younger the dog is.

[GeorgeofNE]

I had ASPCA because VPI would not cover George due to his "abnormal" creatinine level. ASPCA didn't ask for medical records.

 

I ended up dropping it because the amount I was paying versus the amount they reimbursed just wasn't enough to make it worth while for me. Also, they reimburse a portion of "customary" costs I believe--and apparently Boston area costs are about triple "customary" costs!

 

Mister Bigglesworth has a pre-existing condition--so that wouldn't be covered, and Tiger Woods is a Siamese (frequent genetic periodontal disease in the breed) so his premium was going to be high.

 

I would suggest you sign up for whatever you choose BEFORE you do any "routine" bloodwork--cause that's what messed things up for George. His creatine is fine, for a Greyhound (per Dr. Couto) but VPI just saw the word "abnormal" on his records and that was that.

[seeh2o]

I am in the process of switching from PetFirst to Trupanion. I admit that it makes me nervous to do so as PetFirst has always been so good to us, but their limits are very low and after a dog is diagnosed with an on-going condition (Carl being hypothyroid for example which happened the first year I had PetFirst) they will only cover it into the next year for 6 months, then all claims for it from that point on will be rejected as each year it is a "new" policy and hypothyroid is now considered a preexisting condition. So, I figure Trupanion will reject any hypothyroid claims as preexisting, too, but they have unlimited limits for conditions and yearly. As such, I figure I am not losing out on anything.

 

After reading about Embrace above I went to their site to check it out, at 7 years old both Carl and Claire are considered too old for them to insure...WTH????

 

Trupanion has a deal going that if you belong to Dogster (which it is free to join) you can get 2 months free of Trupanion care. If your dog is in an accident I believe it is covered immediately, but you must wait 30 days for illness coverage. I am taking advantage of that and will switch Carl over in January from PetFirst.

 

I also had VPI, awful, awful, awful.

[snowjay]

VPI blows. I got $330 back on an $1650 bill for Cody when he was kept overnight for fluids and observation at the e-vet after he went hyperthermic during his dental. I knew the routine dental wasn't covered but neither were any of the extractions or the overnight stay.

Edited December 20, 2010 by snowjay

[giadog]

We have PetFirst for Gia and Po'boy, and ASPCA for Moe Moe and Apu, because they were too old to be accepted by PetFirst. PF has been great to us, they paid out a huge chunk when Butkus was sick with no issue. My dad predicted that after having to pay out so much on him, they'd drop him after the year was up. Not only did they not drop him, they lowered our premiums. The one complaint I have about them is that it's a hassle to make a claim....You must mail in the claim (no fax or email), and if it's the first occurance of the issue, you have to also send in the past 12-months vet records. But their customer services is fabulous, we'd call in and the people on the phone would remember our name and situation, which was comforting.

 

ASPCA is much easier in terms of filing claims, and they reimburse quickly, but again, they only reimburse 80% of 'average expense', and while Madison isn't as exorbitant as Boston, the 'average' was still a bit below what we actually paid.

[RedFawnMom]

After reading about Embrace above I went to their site to check it out, at 7 years old both Carl and Claire are considered too old for them to insure...WTH????

 

Yeah, they are very age-restrictive, which is why they offer more "bang for the buck", so to speak, if you get in early. I think the cut off might actually be 6 years (but once you're in, you have it for the life of the dog if you want).

[Guest Energy11]

After reading about Embrace above I went to their site to check it out, at 7 years old both Carl and Claire are considered too old for them to insure...WTH????

 

Yeah, they are very age-restrictive, which is why they offer more "bang for the buck", so to speak, if you get in early. I think the cut off might actually be 6 years (but once you're in, you have it for the life of the dog if you want).

Trupanion insures ANY age :-)

[seeh2o]

The one complaint I have about them is that it's a hassle to make a claim....You must mail in the claim (no fax or email)

 

That's strange, I've always faxed my claims to them and never had a problem. I wonder if that's a new thing as I haven't made a claim in a long time?

[giadog]

The one complaint I have about them is that it's a hassle to make a claim....You must mail in the claim (no fax or email)

 

That's strange, I've always faxed my claims to them and never had a problem. I wonder if that's a new thing as I haven't made a claim in a long time?

 

Maybe I'm missing it somewhere, but on their downloadable claim form, it only offers the mail-in option....I could dig deeper next time to find out for sure!

[seeh2o]

The one complaint I have about them is that it's a hassle to make a claim....You must mail in the claim (no fax or email)

 

That's strange, I've always faxed my claims to them and never had a problem. I wonder if that's a new thing as I haven't made a claim in a long time?

 

Maybe I'm missing it somewhere, but on their downloadable claim form, it only offers the mail-in option....I could dig deeper next time to find out for sure!

I'll try to dig it up for you. I remember that they make it really difficult to find their fax number. I think I'd called in to ask a question and someone gave it to me - oops! I recall that they only accept faxes from vet's offices and I always fax them from work and I work in a medical clinic, so maybe they read the fax headliner, see that it says, X X Clinic, and assume!

[giadog]

The one complaint I have about them is that it's a hassle to make a claim....You must mail in the claim (no fax or email)

 

That's strange, I've always faxed my claims to them and never had a problem. I wonder if that's a new thing as I haven't made a claim in a long time?

 

Maybe I'm missing it somewhere, but on their downloadable claim form, it only offers the mail-in option....I could dig deeper next time to find out for sure!

I'll try to dig it up for you. I remember that they make it really difficult to find their fax number. I think I'd called in to ask a question and someone gave it to me - oops! I recall that they only accept faxes from vet's offices and I always fax them from work and I work in a medical clinic, so maybe they read the fax headliner, see that it says, X X Clinic, and assume!

 

Bummer, I wouldn't be able to re-create that scenario very well from my work! But lucky for you!

[MP_the4pack]

I have two dogs going in for dental work. Jade is going tomorrow for a lumpectomy. I'm PRAYING that VPI pays for this because it's a LUMP not a 'dental'. But Onyx needs to see the dentist because at age 15, she won't survive just a GP dental. So I'm looking at $3000 for both. I have VPI. They'll pay maybe $500 of Onyx's bill. I'm hoping for more from Jade. But I guess I'll find out.

 

The only reason I've stayed with VPI is that because I've had them for years now, I still get the cancer rider (not available to new clients). And that DOES pay well.

 

So, here's another VPI person who doesn't recommend them. They were terrific WAY BACK WHEN. But not anymore.

[ChiliDog]

Trupanion here too. They pay for illness or accident, don't pay for the initial vet visit but 90% of everything else.

 

Logans last (well 2nd to last) vet bill was $550 and they paid 90% of it.

Submitted the claim on a Thursday, got the check the following Tuesday.

 

The only thing I will say is you have to watch what your vet writes as "cause"

One time our vet wrote "check up" even though we were there for an issue and the claim was rejected. Had the vet redo the claim and it was accepted.

[Guest Chucko]

I would suggest you sign up for whatever you choose BEFORE you do any "routine" bloodwork--cause that's what messed things up for George. His creatine is fine, for a Greyhound (per Dr. Couto) but VPI just saw the word "abnormal" on his records and that was that.

 

Thank you so much for that advice Miss Susan. That I will not forget to do.

 

Trupanion has a deal going that if you belong to Dogster (which it is free to join) you can get 2 months free of Trupanion care. If your dog is in an accident I believe it is covered immediately, but you must wait 30 days for illness coverage. I am taking advantage of that and will switch Carl over in January from PetFirst.

 

Great, I will check it out too.

 

Thank you all, I see that Trupanion and Embrace are still my two choices. I'm looking at the numbers now trying to make the best decision, but they both seem to be great companies.

[ShebasMom]

I have Embrace pet insurance but am new to pet insurance altogether (I'm pretty new to owning greyhounds, too), but after paying over $5,000 emergency vet fees last year after my 4-1/2 year old greyhound had a seizure and I ended up having to put her down (X-rays, MRI, radiologisit, neurologist, hospitalization, etc.), I decided I needed pet insurance. After reading reviews about Embrace (this site and Embrace's site (perhaps biased), I went with them and so far am happy with the results. I've only been with Embrace since March 2010, though, but so far they have reimbursed my wellness exam/vaccination costs satisfactorily (separate wellnes plan), and I've almost reached my $500 deductible for the accident/illness plan. Thus far, I'm a happy camper.

[Guest Energy11]

I just submitted over $800 in claims to Trupanion~!!! I am GLAD I HAVE IT, AND HAVE IT ON ALL FIVE! Costs me $253/mo for all five, BUT ONE INCIDENT like my Goldie's ... well, it costs! Yes, Trupanion rules!

 

 

[Guest Chucko]

I do like that medications are included with Trupanion, and no increase in premium due to age. But I'm still weighing the pros and cons. I want to be sure I pick the one that fits me best, and I want to be ready to enroll shortly after I get my Hound.