# Pet Health Insurance 2021



## DHau (Feb 24, 2007)

I am considering pet health insurance with my next puppy. This has been addressed in the past but the posts are not current. I am not really sure how it works. Is it for everyday vet care like vaccinations, spaying, neutering, etc., or emergency care? I have a list somewhere and will be researching the names to see what is offered, but was wondering if members here have it and what their experiences are. Should I inquire about this with my vet to see what is recommended?


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## Clipper (May 7, 2021)

While I don't use it, this excerpt from Washington Consumer Checkbook may be helpful.


Pet insurance ain’t cheap if you insure for life. The total cost of premiums over a nearly 13-year lifetime for Woof ranged widely, from about $6,200 with Healthy Paws to nearly $22,200 with Petplan. Keep in mind those are just costs for buying insurance coverage; with most plans, policyholders must still contribute co-pays and deductibles, and not all costs are covered.
Cats cost less. The almost 13-year cost of premiums for Kitty ranged from Healthy Paws’ $3,700 to Petplan’s $10,800. But, as with Woof, buying insurance for Kitty was unlikely to save us money over his life when he suffered only a low level of health problems—and careful, deliberative cats tend to have fewer vet bills than rambunctious, impulsive dogs.
Insurance often _increases _your total out-of-pocket costs. Even the best insurance plans cost more in premiums than they paid out over Woof ’s lifetime, when he suffered only moderate health problems costing $6,646 in illness and injury vet bills, plus $2,360 for routine care, over his life. After we accounted for the considerable lifetime cost of premiums, our net out-of-pocket costs across all plans were about $2,900 to $18,000 higher _with _pet insurance than without it. Hmmmm…
Shop and save. Vet prices vary widely, according to the extensive undercover price shopping we did to evaluate area veterinarians. For example, some highly rated pet doctors charge half as much for the same services as other top vets in the same city. Bargain hunting may also give you another reason to skip insurance, since your shopping savvy can cut out-of-pocket vet costs while non-negotiable insurance premiums remain high.
Murky marketing? Most insurance plans tout affordability. And because most buyers sign up when their pets are young and monthly premiums are lowest, it _looks_ like a manageable expense. But we found several insurers didn’t adequately disclose that, starting around age four or five, their premiums typically start to steeply rise—purely _because _the pets get older. Sooner or later, many plans’ premiums become unaffordable—some charge $1,400 to more than $3,400 per year to cover older animals. Meanwhile, comforting claims about benefits paid often mislead by omitting the considerable cost of premiums from the equation.
Some plans are better than others. Healthy Paws and Trupanion were the picks of the litter. If you still want to insure your pet, our cost/benefit analysis found that you can pay a lot or a little for essentially the same core coverage. Our investigation also turned up plenty of other ways to save.
Wellness care coverage is a poor deal. Much veterinary care consists of routine annual checkups, preventive care, and elective services _not _covered by accident and illness plans. You _can _typically add coverage for that, but it makes the total monthly premium even higher. Why pay an unnecessary middleman and cover its overhead and profits?https://www.checkbook.org/washington-area/veterinarians/ratings/


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## DHau (Feb 24, 2007)

thank you Clipper


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## Fodder (Oct 21, 2007)

If you sort search results by recent instead of relevant - you’ll see an insurance threads that aren’t as outdated.

since finding the right keyword can be tricky, once you’ve narrowed down the companies that you’re interested in, using that name should pull good results.


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

We have Healthy Paws for Cava. We've never insured any previous dogs but the end of life stuff for Halo and Keefer was significant. Just Keef's bloat surgery at 12 years old was close to $7000, and Halo had twice weekly laser and swim therapy sessions for almost a year, at $70 each. By the time your dog is a senior it's possible that monthly insurance premiums will have more than offset any costs it would have covered over the life of the dog, if they've been healthy most of that time. Like any insurance, it's a gamble. Cava had aspiration pneumonia a couple months ago and was hospitalized for 2 nights. It was fully covered - blood work, xrays, fluids and other treatments while she was there, IV antibiotics and oral meds to take home. They have been very prompt with payment too, I took a photo of the bill with my phone, uploaded it to the app, and within days the money was deposited directly into my checking account. 

HP does not cover exams, vaccinations, routine preventative meds like heartworm and flea/tick, or elective surgery like spays/neuters. But they cover pretty much everything else, including the kind of rehab that Halo had. Our plan has a $250 per year deductible (some companies have a per incidence deductible instead), and after that it covers 80%. Exceptions would be anything pre-existing, so it's best to start coverage as early as possible, before anything crops up.


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## Kayrod05 (Oct 4, 2021)

We have Trupanion for our 3 cats and 7 mon old GSD. They don't cover routine visits for check ups, vaccinations and spay/neuter. They also don't cover the office charges on the invoice like if your vet charges $60 for the visit then charges a bunch of blood work, xray, medication etc then 90% of the testing costs are reimbursed. If the vet bill is large like thousands They will actually work with the hospital to set up direct pay but usually you pay for a bill and then you are reimbursed. They have an app where you answer some questions and upload the bill. The deductibles are reasonable I think we have 100 on each animal but the cool part is the deductible is per issue not per year so if your dog has an ongoing issue you will only pay for the deductible once and then the rest of treatments are covered but if the next week a different issue arises you pay the deductible again. Our now deceased 12 year old car had terrible hips. She was a feral before we took her in and eventually she was just bone on bone. She could barely use the bathroom in the end. We tried to be proactive before it got that bad and did laser therapy every single week with her the vet charged $55 with no office visits so trupanion paid for 90% of that. Every single week. Another street cat we took in got hepatic lipodosis (fatty liver disease) which is very fetal to cats. We beat it one time and the 2nd time we tried to fight and ultimately decided to let him go. He had some genetic condition I don't remember what but it was rare and the vet at the emergency hospital which is a big one here on Long Island said the first time she'd seen it in person. His bills for both hospital stays were Close to $30,000 and at most my family paid 5k that's the 10% we were responsible for and the $30 bucks they charged everytime a vet walked into his room. Trupanion set up direct pay and I was given invoices every few days after the hospital processed what my insurance paid. All in all I say for us pet insurance is well worth the monthly premiums and I wouldn't have an animal (especially a large breed dog) without it. They have been really transparent even emailing me and explaining rate changes. I've called and worked our different deductibles ($120 for some pets $95 for others) to keep my monthly payment the same. It's an extra expense for sure but we make it work.


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## Sabre's Mom (Jul 27, 2018)

I have insurance on both of my dogs, Nationwide Whole Pet with Wellness. Yes, the premiums are costly. But it covers everything except the biohazard needle disposal fee at 90% after my $250/year deductible.


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## annelamb (Oct 4, 2021)

I have a friend who insured her dog, and yes, it was a great investment. But on the other hand - if an accident happens (and no one can rule out the possibility), will you be sure that the pet urgently get help? I have a guinea pig Betsy and I'm considering of getting her insured too. I've been involved in lots of info lately on care and nutrition for pigs, recently found some interesting facts about diet for them can guinea pigs eat grapes. While I'm trying to get the hang of keeping a pet, as I've never had a guinea pig before. Has anyone here insured guinea pigs? Please share your experience=)


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