Pet Health Insurance: What is it, why should you consider it, and when should you get it?

 

If you haven’t noticed (and I bet you have), the price of veterinary care has gone up significantly in the last decade.  This is for a lot of reasons, and not all of them are negative.  The quality of veterinary medicine has improved, meaning that hospitals now must invest in new technologies and training for their teams in order to meet the standard of care and be competitive.  Also, pets are living longer, which is wonderful but means more expenses as they age.  As in a lot of industries, veterinarians have also seen a rise in the cost of supplies, pharmaceuticals, equipment, utilities, and wages for employees.  To stay in business and to continue to help pets, veterinarians have been forced to increase their costs to clients. 

One of the ways for pet owners to offset the cost of veterinary care is pet health insurance.  Pet insurance is something that has been around for many years but is recently becoming more commonplace.  It is a tool that can allow pet owners to get the best medical care for their pets, while avoiding the stress and heartache of making big financial decisions. 

It is incumbent on pet owners to research their options when it comes to pet health insurance.  There are many different insurance companies out there, and each one offers something unique.  For example, some are focused on covering preventive care while others are focused on covering illness and injury.  Some have high deductibles and low monthly payments or vice versa.  Pet owners will need to research to determine which company and plan are the right fit for their unique situation.  One helpful resource is PawlicyAdvisor (https://www.pawlicy.com/), a website that allows pet owners to compare different pet insurance options.  Also, many employers offer discounted pet insurance for their employees and even some homeowners, renters, and car insurance companies may offer a discounted rate for pet insurance to their clients.  It’s definitely worth checking!

The best time to get pet insurance is when a pet is young and healthy.  Once an animal is diagnosed with any illness or injury, this will often be considered a “pre-existing condition” and insurance will not pay for treatment for that condition.  The prime time to get insurance is at the time of purchase or adoption of a new puppy, kitten, or young adult animal.  However, all pets are insurable and it’s worth exploring your options even in older animals.

Ultimately, in this day and age, it is imperative that pet owners have the ability to cover unexpected and expensive health care costs for their pets.  This may mean keeping a healthcare savings account for their pets or it may mean getting pet health insurance.  The most important thing is that pet owners are not placed in an unfortunate situation where they are torn between helping their pet and putting their family in a tenuous financial position.  I have personally seen insurance companies cover tens of thousands of dollars in care for pets, which can the difference between life and death.

-Katie Sizer, DVM