Health Insurance - Worth It?

[Guest RMarie]

We've been considering getting insurance for James because if something catastrophic happened....yeah...definitely couldn't afford it. We don't want to have to let him go just because we can't afford to treat him. And I know someone previously commented that insurance wouldn't cover general exams, but I was looking for clarification. For instance, we had to take James to the vet for what turned out to be a staph infection. The visit, Rx, and shampoo totaled almost $200. What would insurance have covered, if anything?

[jaym1]

healthy paws will cover everything on the invoice from your vet EXCEPT the generic "exam fee," which is usually just the basic fee to be seen by a vet or vet tech. so in your case, they would cover the prescriptions and the shampoo (maybe -- not sure about that), but not whatever the vets flat fee was.

 

this sounds bad, but when you consider how expensive fairly basic bloodwork can be, for instance, or how expensive certain antibiotics are, etc., etc., its not a bad deal at all. the more catastrophic and expensive the event, or course, means the greater the value of insurance.

[45MPHK9]

For instance, we had to take James to the vet for what turned out to be a staph infection. The visit, Rx, and shampoo totaled almost $200. What would insurance have covered, if anything?

From the Trupanion website:

What does Trupanion pet insurance cover?

Trupanion covers 90% of veterinary costs that arise from a pet getting sick or injured. We reimburse based on the actual cost a vet charges for diagnostic testing, surgeries, medications, hospitalization, supplements*, therapeutic pet foods**, orthotic devices, prosthetic devices, carts, and other treatments, less the exam fee. Hereditary conditions are covered as well.1

 

*Coverage applies to supplements and therapeutic pet foods prescribed and purchased through a veterinarian for the treatment of accidents and illnesses.

**We cover ½ of the cost of therapeutic pet foods for two months, after which a discount is applied to the pet owners premium.

1 Availability is subject to regulatory approval in your area.

 

What is not covered?

Trupanion offers coverage for unexpected veterinary costs. Expected costs, or routine costs, are not eligible for coverage. These include: exam fees, preventive care, parasite control, spay/neuter, bilateral conditions, conditions arising from a repetitive activity that leads to decontamination (ie, stomach pumping, induced vomiting), abnormalities that are present at, or during the 18 months prior to, the policy enrollment date and dental (scaling, cleaning and polishing). Pre-existing conditions (accidents or illnesses that have shown symptoms to be present prior to the start of coverage or during the waiting periods) are also excluded from coverage. Coverage for alternative therapies are also excluded unless our Additional Care Package1 is added for an additional cost.

[Guest Nekos_Mommy]

Healthy paws has been fantastic to me. My dog is going through a very tough few months diagnostically and the costs are approaching $5,000. However, I Have only been held responsible for about $500 of it!

 

The checks come in less than a week, and there are never any complaints from the company about my test after test after test.. I have a 100$ deductible and 90% coverage and pay 40$ a month. I insured my cat with them as well.

 

They are a fantastic company that seems very down to earth, I have called and emailed to clarify things with them and they are always very sweet and willing to spend money on your pet. I am a student so without all the aid from healthy paws there is no way I would still have Neko today. (and they will never drop you for spenging too much of their money! My parents didnt believe me on that one, but I called them to make sure it wasnt too good to be true)

 

For the question posed about about the appointment costing $200, healthy paws will not cover the initial exam fee (say, 40$ or 50$ ,depends on your vet) but anything after that is covered. Any hospitalization, any treatment (medicated shampoo counts as a treatment) any diagnostics or medicine are all 90% covered (so if the appointment was 200$ and your vet charges 50$ per appointment you would end up paying 65$)

 

Most of my appointments cost about $300, and the exam fee is 40$, so I end up paying 66$

Edited April 4, 2013 by Nekos_Mommy

[kudzu]

We've been considering getting insurance for James because if something catastrophic happened....yeah...definitely couldn't afford it. We don't want to have to let him go just because we can't afford to treat him. And I know someone previously commented that insurance wouldn't cover general exams, but I was looking for clarification. For instance, we had to take James to the vet for what turned out to be a staph infection. The visit, Rx, and shampoo totaled almost $200. What would insurance have covered, if anything?

Healthy Paws doesn't cover the exam fee. Nor do they cover vaccinations, HW tests or prevention, spay/neuter or preexisting conditions. OK, so my dogs HP policies have a $50 deductible with 90% reimbursement of anything covered. It costs about $45/mo per dog. For scenario you've listed, assuming the exam fee is $45, HP would reimburse $139.50 less any remaining deductible, if any. So if first claim of they year it would be $89.50.

 

My male Grey has had 9 vet visits this year totally $975 in bills. HP has paid $463 of that. That's 10 months of premiums & we've got a minimum of 4 visits left. So just this one toe that didn't even require surgery will have paid for his premiums. Last year we only filed two claims on him totaling $400. One was an e-vet visit with a $75 office fee. HP reimbursed a total of $210. Basically, assuming nothing else happens this year, I will have paid $250 for 24 months of insurance. Of course that's just one of my two. The girl so far has not needed a claim.

[philospher77]

And Healthy Paws is very fast. I emailed my last two claims to them, and I think that the response on the reimbursement was in my in-box like 15 minutes later! Those were pretty routine visits, I will admit. (1 for Pixie's follow-up x-ray to see how her knee was doing, and the other for inducing vomiting after she decided to eat 9 ounces of dates. That may not sound bad, but it's 5% of her bodyweight, and probably 40+ date pits, so I didn't want to risk potential blockages. And they didn't even ask about why those two visits were on the same day. Yep, Pixie decided to celebrate her first day of freedom!) It takes a little longer if you fax the claim, and I have no idea about mail.

[jaym1]

i am jealous of the low cost of veterinary medicine some of you have where you live. here the vet fee alone is about $120 for non-emergency visits, and $140 for emergency. thats just to get in the door.

[a_daerr]

i am jealous of the low cost of veterinary medicine some of you have where you live. here the vet fee alone is about $120 for non-emergency visits, and $140 for emergency. thats just to get in the door.

 

Whoa, our e-vet isn't even that expensive!

[Guest RMarie]

Thanks everyone!

[kudzu]

i am jealous of the low cost of veterinary medicine some of you have where you live. here the vet fee alone is about $120 for non-emergency visits, and $140 for emergency. thats just to get in the door.

Ow!! Just looked at a recent receipt. My dog's bandage changes are running $75 per visit, $30 visit + $45 for bandaging. Am getting reimbursed $40.50 for each visit.

[carronstar]

i am jealous of the low cost of veterinary medicine some of you have where you live. here the vet fee alone is about $120 for non-emergency visits, and $140 for emergency. thats just to get in the door.

 

I can make you feel even better about what you are paying ... walk in cost for emergency clinic here is $1,550. That's just to be seen.

[jaym1]

what does that mean -- for humans?

[deboosh]

I can make you feel even better about what you are paying ... walk in cost for emergency clinic here is $1,550. That's just to be seen.

 

Good Lord! I hope that figure's was a typo. If not, that's what I call gouging!

[carronstar]

Good Lord! I hope that figure's was a typo. If not, that's what I call gouging!

 

Not a typo. With three visits to them in a 12 month period, it is a number I am well aware of. The ER at the teaching hospital where her specialist works has a lower intake of $160 but with all the tests, etc. added in on the invoice it comes out to the same number.

[MP_the4pack]

Whenever I've gone to an e-vet, my bill was always 4 figures because of the tests. And they always do everything.

[Guest RMarie]

Whenever I've gone to an e-vet, my bill was always 4 figures because of the tests. And they always do everything.

 

Yep. I know from my in-laws' experience with one of their dogs that you can count on paying at least $2k for an e-vet vist + tests.

[Guest lucylei]

I'm reviving this thread because for the last three months I went with Trupanion for Missy (5). Yesterday we got Zuko (3) and when I called Trupanion the first customer service rep was so lost on what's what that I got mad and cancelled. The cancellation person was so rude that I definitely don't regret it. The rates were kind of ridiculously expensive and seemed arbitrary. I called 3 days ago for Zuko and was told one price. Today it was 9$ more expensive. When I asked what changed, I got a long "Uhhhhh...."

 

Me to cancellation person: "I expect I won't be charged since my second dog was added to my account while I was just asking for a quote."

Cancellation person to me: "Is that a questions or a statement? I don't get it."

 

So frustrating! I am glad I found this out before I spent years paying into it though.

[kolarik1]

I'm seriously considering getting HP for Carmel...I emailed them about Zelda as she has seizures and arthritis as pre-existing conditions, but those don't really cost me much in terms of meds...I'm more worried about her eventually getting some type of cancer as its' so prevalent in the greys or having something happen to her (dog attack, etc.)

 

Plus I saw a cute male cat today that I may go visit Wed night when his group is there (3 year old, neutered black cat)...he likes dogs/cats and tried to play with the greyhound I was walking through the Plexiglas

Edited July 14, 2013 by kolarik1

[Charlies_Dad]

It's debatable. We now have insurance on Stewie however did not have it on Charlie, Jack or Shelby. Charlie's bills cost us approximately $10,000-12,000 is my best guess due to his Osteo and then amputation and chemo, plus other things while we had him. He was healthy other than Osteo however that is only for 4 years we had him. Jack likely cost us between $3000-5000 due to his heart issues and we only had him 3.5yrs. Shebly was a senior when she came to us (11yrs old), cost us between $2000-3000 due to a growth in her gum that required surgery and two dentals with a lot of extractions. She was only with us just under 3yrs.

 

Based on the above costs of our first three Greys, we thought why not try insurance this time around as there always seems to be one big thing that causes large vet bills. We pay $55/mth so that's just over $600/yr so I figure if something big happens, these days vet bills easily get to $2000 and rise quickly to $4-5000. As you can see, it's debatable.

[4My2Greys]

I looked into insurance right after losing Bruiser and Beanie to cancer. I then considered the fact that Nadir had already been documented with intestinal and urinary issues and since insurance wouldn't pay for pre-existing conditions I didn't see much worth in it so I didn't get it. Now he's been diagnosed with a heart condition and thrombus. Just 6 weeks into this diagnosis and I've already spent close to $2,500 with more tests and bills to come, which would have been covered had I opted to get the insurance.

[Walliered]

I also have Trupanion and there is no way I could have afforded my three hounds without it. I also bought the little add on and it covers other things regular polices don't. But, if I had it to do again, I would insure them as soon as I got them (before a vet visit). I think the policy kicks in for emergencies in 7 days and for everything else in 30 days. My reasoning is there would be no "pre-existing conditions".

[Guest kkaiser104]

I got healthy paws for Teddi and I think it's absolutely worth it. I pay $34/month for him and will insure his brother when he comes home as well. My reasoning is that I never want to have to decide between his life and money. I can put things on credit, but with the cost of osteo treatment alone I think it's worth the money I pay each month. I'm a student and don't have the steadiest form of income.

[seeh2o]

I've had PetPlan (when it was called something else), VPI, PetFirst, Trupanion and now Healthy Paws.

 

PetPlan, paid out in a big way when I went from zero to $1900 when my girl, Sheila a Chow/Shiba Inu mix, went into a food bloat. They paid 70%, she was 13, so I was grateful for whatever they would pay. My plan was for 70%, they paid without question. I didn't stay with them as having purebred greyhounds was way more expensive than the premiums for mutts.

 

VPI, never had cause to use it the year I had it, heard terrible things from close friends who had them so I dumped them after 1 year.

 

PetFirst, low premiums, paid well and 90% of Carl's issues his first few years with me. When he was diagnosed as hypothyroid, they paid those bills, too, until a year went by then it was considered a "new policy" and his being hypothyroid became an existing condition. PetFirst, stage left.

 

Trupanion, never made a claim, had both dogs insured through them for less than 12 months. Suddenly, a 33+% increase in premiums first for Carl, then for Doodles. They didn't even have a birthday at the time. I expressed my unhappiness with them, the tried to get me to stay (offered no incentive to stay), Trupanion exit stage left.

 

Healthy Paws, I switched to them well over a year ago, they have increased their rates beyond what I was told they would, but still not anywhere near 33% for each dog. Have not had to make a claim with them...fingers and paws crossed it remains that way.

 

I have a $500 deductible and a Care Credit card to cover that and the initial bill should I need it.

[kolarik1]

Well I just signed up with Healthy Paws for Zelda and Carmel...I looked at VPI and Trupanion as well. Now to get Zelda in for a vet visit by this weekend and her medical records sent over to them to see what they will/will not cover with her. I had emailed them and they sent a very nice response.

 

After losing Pop in February to osteo (2 1/2 weeks after diagnosis...I think it had spread too much, especially after seeing the x-ray that I don't even think full blown treatment would have saved him) and losing Mousey to lymphoma in Dec 2010 (at the age of 8!), I will feel better about the girls being covered now. And I really can't complain, it's less than $60/month for the 2 of them.

[Rickiesmom]

Jeff is with Trupanion and so far my experiences have been all positive. When I was looking at carriers Healthy Paws wasn't available in Canada, not sure if that is still true - their coverage sounds very similar, but for some reason much less expensive than Trupanion.

 

I am looking into insurance for Jaynie, but she has a major pre-existing condition with her kidneys, and her coverage may or may not be affected by an epulis that was removed (hopefully only if it were to come back in the same spot). I asked Trupanion for a list of exclusions for her so I could make an informed decision (and to avoid surprises later). They require you to enroll in order to do the assessment, but you can cancel and get your money back within 30 days, and the assessment should be completed before that.

 

All my customer service experiences with them have been very good.