Pet Insurance?

[Guest SparrowLake]

Does anyone have pet insurance?

How much? Do you pay annually? Monthly?

What does the insurance cover? What does it not cover?

Vet bills can potentially be huge.

Has it payed off?

[KF_in_Georgia]

Lots of people will chime in. You also can search the forums for previous threads on this very popular topic.

 

My experience with VPI was terrible. One dog's final illness cost $4,500, and the insurance paid about $1,100 of that.

 

Most important--for any insurance policy--determine if anything your dog has could be considered a pre-existing condition. My current girl was picked up as a stray a year ago. She had what seemed to be a minor skin rash on one leg. VPI didn't want to ensure her at all since we didn't have vet records on her; eventually, they agreed to a policy that excluded the leg and some other issues. I decided not to get the policy.

 

Turns out, the "minor skin rash" has been a bigger deal than expected, and I'm down $800+ to date on that leg. If I'd insured her with VPI, I'd still be down the $800+, but I'd also be out their premiums, too.

[PrairieProf]

I just signed up for Petplan for Beth. The tech who handles insurance at my vet said she'd done research and it was the best, and she'd found them easy to work with. She said VPI is bad!

 

It's not cheap. You can adjust the level of coverage, your deductible, and what % you want paid, but for my six-year-old greyhound it's about $55 per month. But I wish I'd signed up years ago (I spent thousands when she had her toe injury and amputation). Really love that specialists and holistic care are covered, and treatment for chronic conditions (so long as they're not pre-existing when you sign up).

[ShebasMom]

I have Embrace and am happy with it. Others have said Trupanion is great. Other threads have covered this a good bit.

[Guest JarBear]

We have Healthy Paws. We just signed up a couple of months ago based on what I learned from a thread here on Greytalk. We haven't used it yet and I'm in no hurry. I pay $153.00 per month for 4 dogs ages 9, 5, 4, and 2. We took the plan with $250.00 deductible and 90% pay out. It excludes pre existing conditions, dental care, (unless caused by an injury), vacs, and office visits. One big thing I like is the deductible is yearly rather than per incident. I am most interested in being covered for things like major illness, tests, broken bones, etc. We had a broken leg a couple of years ago that ended up costing around $5,000.00.

Edited September 28, 2012 by JarBear

[JohnF]

I have Pet Plan for the whole life of the dog (equivalent $55 US a month). But they pay the vet on invoice so no need for credit acrd bridging finance. The 'voluntary' excess is around $120 so most little things aren't going to get covered. So far with this dog it has handled an end of tail amputation and and knee surgery.

[OwnedBySummer]

SparrowLake, keep in mind, though, that a lot of the US insurance companies do NOT operate in Canada.

I have Trupanion. I pay about $100/month, $0 deductible, unlimited coverage. I got whacked with a $5,000+ bill for my last dog and, for me, this expense is worth it. I never have to hesitate about vet visits, whether regular or E-vets. Plus, Summer is... a bit special... or perhaps I should say accident prone. It's worth it for us.

Edited September 28, 2012 by OwnedBySummer

[Walliered]

I have Trupanion and I cannot say anything negative about them. Da Vid's back surgery was $5900.00 and they cut me a check for $5300.00 There is no ceiling on their payouts. Huck died of bone cancer and even though I did not let him linger on, they paid the specialist in Charleston 90%.

[MachosMom]

Just a question about this also as I am about to do this for Moon and my shepard. Do you pay up front and then do a claim for reimbursement?

 

I know for sure I am putting them on insurance this month, no doubt!

[Feisty49]

We have Healthy Paws. We just signed up a couple of months ago based on what I learned from a thread here on Greytalk. We haven't used it yet and I'm in no hurry. I pay $153.00 per month for 4 dogs ages 9, 5, 4, and 2. We took the plan with $250.00 deductible and 90% pay out. It excludes pre existing conditions, dental care, (unless caused by an injury), vacs, and office visits. One big thing I like is the deductible is yearly rather than per incident. I am most interested in being covered for things like major illness, tests, broken bones, etc. We had a broken leg a couple of years ago that ended up costing around $5,000.00.

 

I too have Healthy Paws and pay $34 a month for my almost 5-year-old girl. As said above, it does not cover pre-existing conditions, but I don't think any pet insurance does, preventative dental or well care. I switched from Trupanion to Healthy Paws because, as also said above, the deductible is a flat rate for the year, not per incident as it was with Trupanion, at least when I switched, and at the time, Trupanion had a maximum lifetime amount. I've submitted a couple of claims to Healthy Paws, the amounts of which went toward the $250 deductible. They covered tests for Annie B's diarrhea though in the end there was no definitive diagnosis.

[KF_in_Georgia]

Just a question about this also as I am about to do this for Moon and my shepard. Do you pay up front and then do a claim for reimbursement?

 

I know for sure I am putting them on insurance this month, no doubt!

 

For VPI, you pay the vet up front, and I bet it's the same for all the plans.

 

Look into Care Credit. It's a credit card with $0 interest if paid on their schedule (which varies according to the size of the bill, I think). Care Credit can be used for vision care or dental care or medical care for people--or for medical care for dogs. (Not all providers accept Care Credit, so check: my vet doesn't take it, but Silver's veterinary dermatologist and ER take it.) If you don't pay the bill on time, the interest is huge, so if you can't make the payment, make other arrangements to finance the bill.

 

Where Care Credit really shines, though, is in giving you enough credit up front to pay the bills when you know your insurance will pay you back later. No worrying that you have to spend your mortgage payment to finance the ER bills up front.

 

You can apply for Care Credit online.

[OwnedBySummer]

SparrowLake, keep in mind, though, that a lot of the US insurance companies do NOT operate in Canada.

I have Trupanion. I pay about $100/month, $0 deductible, unlimited coverage. I got whacked with a $5,000+ bill for my last dog and, for me, this expense is worth it. I never have to hesitate about vet visits, whether regular or E-vets. Plus, Summer is... a bit special... or perhaps I should say accident prone. It's worth it for us.

 

ETA more info: I have 90% coverage in addition to what I mentioned above and the maximum lifetime benefits payments are unlimited.

[brianamac]

Since I am also from Canada, I thought my reply might help.

We have PetSecure insurance. For our 2 year old, no previous health problem grey, we pay $60/month. That is with a $300 deductible (per injury/illness), but pays $5000 for injury, $5000 illness, and $350 no deductible for dental, and $350 for behavioural therapy, alternative therapy, etc every year. It probably isn't the best out there, after reading some other replies. Maybe we should have shopped around more.

However, my niece has a Great Dane that had bloat a couple months ago, and she was on the same insurance. She admitted the dog to the E-Vet, and while he got surgery she called Petsecure to let them know the deal and that she was filling out claims forms. The E-Vet faxed the forms while her dog was in surgery, and by the time she took the dog home she only paid the bill for her $300 deductible.... she didn't have to pay the whole thing and wait for a re-imbursement, they just took care of it. So for that reason, I do think PetSecure in Canada is an alright choice.

Hope we don't have to use it for a long long time.

[MachosMom]

Care Credit is awesome KF! We just paid it off from visits for Macho. It gave us peace of mind to handle stuff knowing we'd pay it off but didn't have that chunk at that exact moment to pay. It helped that part of everything not be an added stress.

[MP_the4pack]

I'm leaving VPI because their 'schedule' just isn't up to date with today's medical bills. I'm looking at heathypaws and trupanion right now

[a_daerr]

I have an accident and illness policy through ASPCA for both dogs. It's really cheap ($11 per month, per dog). And they reimburse 80% after a $100 deductible. When Henry had to have a partial amputation on his tail, they did reimburse me. It took over a month due to high amounts of claims, but they eventually did pay out. The only thing it didn't cover was the pre-op bloodwork that the vet did before his surgery. Henry's had seizures, so I was fine with paying a little more to have the piece of mind that they were dosing the anesthesia correctly. I also have Care Credit so I can make monthly payments on other stuff. Truman's neuter was close to $800, so it was nice to not get whacked with that all at once.

[Guest snowmo18]

I have PetsBest and I think this has been the right plan for us. its about $230 a year per dog with a $250 deductible per incident and 80% reimburse. To me this was the most affordable option for us and anything major over $250 is covered..illness or accident that is. I didnt have to send in past medical records like some companies make you do and for claims we were paid withing 2 weeks. Raider has used it multiple times..he had unexplaind bruising this summer and we were worried he got into a poison of some sort...never found cause but insurance paid for it with no hassle and I dont have to worry about making a trip to the evet..I just go and I know that its covered.

[RedHead]

I am just looking into this as well...there is no way I can afford thousands if something happens. I checked out most of the major Canadian companies, and from my research I am going with Trupanion. The reason is that it was the only one I could find that has no ceiling amount to coverage (the other companies had things like $5000 on accidents, $5000 on illness each year). Trupanion covers whatever you need, and the monthly payments were similar to other companies. I am going with the $60 dollar a month plan, which would be $400 deductible.

[Guest SparrowLake]

I have an accident and illness policy through ASPCA for both dogs. It's really cheap ($11 per month, per dog). And they reimburse 80% after a $100 deductible. When Henry had to have a partial amputation on his tail, they did reimburse me. It took over a month due to high amounts of claims, but they eventually did pay out. The only thing it didn't cover was the pre-op bloodwork that the vet did before his surgery. Henry's had seizures, so I was fine with paying a little more to have the piece of mind that they were dosing the anesthesia correctly. I also have Care Credit so I can make monthly payments on other stuff. Truman's neuter was close to $800, so it was nice to not get whacked with that all at once.

 

Wow...that is really cheap! There is a pretty big range in cost from what I am reading. I want to have coverage but I don't want my monthly fees to be too high.

[Guest SparrowLake]

I have an accident and illness policy through ASPCA for both dogs. It's really cheap ($11 per month, per dog). And they reimburse 80% after a $100 deductible. When Henry had to have a partial amputation on his tail, they did reimburse me. It took over a month due to high amounts of claims, but they eventually did pay out. The only thing it didn't cover was the pre-op bloodwork that the vet did before his surgery. Henry's had seizures, so I was fine with paying a little more to have the piece of mind that they were dosing the anesthesia correctly. I also have Care Credit so I can make monthly payments on other stuff. Truman's neuter was close to $800, so it was nice to not get whacked with that all at once.

 

Wow...that is really cheap! There is a pretty big range in cost from what I am reading. I want to have coverage but I don't want my monthly fees to be too high.

 

Actually I doubt I would be able to find a plan for $11 per month here in Canada. I will have to start getting some quotes.