OT: Pet medical insurance

[NHAero]

We just got a new pup, a rescue from Arkansas, maybe 11 months old. Been through a lot - the story was she'd been hit by a car and suffered a broken leg, but talking this week with the woman who rescued her it seems clear she was hit or kicked by a person. She had surgery and the femur was pinned. This was 7-1/2 months ago and she's totally fine. Took her to the vet yesterday to get a checkup and shots and she pressed us to get health insurance for the pooch.
With our last dog, who died in December, we definitely had some emergencies that each time cost $2-3,000. We feel that kind of bill - heck, I'm getting a Firefly for the upper end of that, to put it in perspective- but it's akin to a major car repair much more than why we insure our house and health against potentially devastating loss.
So - what are people's thoughts about health insurance for pets, and if you support it, who are the best carriers with the best policies? Would look for high deductible so regular vet visits are on us.
Thanks!

[VTCaraco]

We rescued a dog last January and the Animal Hospital encouraged us, too. I made the initial call to get some numbers ~ which were breed-dependent through the company that they were suggesting ~ and was shocked by how expensive it was. I guess I was just naive. It was well more than we spend annually to safeguard against a catastrophic expense.

For us, the numbers didn't make sense.
From a probability point of view, I suppose that's a problem for the industry. If their costs aren't too high for many, they can't afford the big expenses for the few....

[charliedid]

We just got a new pup, a rescue from Arkansas, maybe 11 months old. Been through a lot - the story was she'd been hit by a car and suffered a broken leg, but talking this week with the woman who rescued her it seems clear she was hit or kicked by a person. She had surgery and the femur was pinned. This was 7-1/2 months ago and she's totally fine. Took her to the vet yesterday to get a checkup and shots and she pressed us to get health insurance for the pooch.
With our last dog, who died in December, we definitely had some emergencies that each time cost $2-3,000. We feel that kind of bill - heck, I'm getting a Firefly for the upper end of that, to put it in perspective- but it's akin to a major car repair much more than why we insure our house and health against potentially devastating loss.
So - what are people's thoughts about health insurance for pets, and if you support it, who are the best carriers with the best policies? Would look for high deductible so regular vet visits are on us.
Thanks!

Yea good for you!

My wife trains Aussies and Border Collies for agility and rally events. Her dogs are basically serious amature athletes. She swears by the insurance she has.

I'm sure you can do a bunch of research and get rec's but I can ask her which insurance she uses.

[zap]

My mom (in Canada) got a pup last summer and purchased pet insurance 2-3 months after the pup got home. I need to ask her if the insurance will be paying any portion of the operation (neutered) the pup got earlier this month.

[yngpunk]

We just got a new pup, a rescue from Arkansas, maybe 11 months old. Been through a lot - the story was she'd been hit by a car and suffered a broken leg, but talking this week with the woman who rescued her it seems clear she was hit or kicked by a person. She had surgery and the femur was pinned. This was 7-1/2 months ago and she's totally fine. Took her to the vet yesterday to get a checkup and shots and she pressed us to get health insurance for the pooch.
With our last dog, who died in December, we definitely had some emergencies that each time cost $2-3,000. We feel that kind of bill - heck, I'm getting a Firefly for the upper end of that, to put it in perspective- but it's akin to a major car repair much more than why we insure our house and health against potentially devastating loss.
So - what are people's thoughts about health insurance for pets, and if you support it, who are the best carriers with the best policies? Would look for high deductible so regular vet visits are on us.
Thanks!

You might want to check if your employer offers pet insurance as part of their "total benefits" program. Many of the discount programs offered via employers contain discounted pet insurance

[makoti]

I read up on it a while back & it looked to me like it was not a great deal. The coverage gets really expensive as your pet ages. If your dog has any new issues with the leg, it likely won't be covered. Read the list of non-covered things. It can be pretty extensive.
I was thinking about it & asked my vet, who has brochures for it on the counter. He suggested against it.

[rePhil]

Congratulations on the new Pup. We have used Care Credit in the past. 6 Months interest free.

[Bruce K]

Tried it when we adopted our latest

So far not impressed and getting ready to cancel

BK

[GregL]

We purchased pet medical insurance when our current dog joined the family. His breed (wheaten terrier) is notorious for allergies and protein absorption disorders. The price was reasonable at first (~$29/month), but has risen steeply as he has aged. Since he is very healthy at age 10 (minimal skin allergies, no other ailments), we are likely to cancel the coverage as the cost has nearly doubled recently.

A counter point: my sister's beagle required significant orthopedic surgery for a torn CCL. She told me that her dog's medical insurance saved her thousands of dollars.

Greg

[djg21]

We just got a new pup, a rescue from Arkansas, maybe 11 months old. Been through a lot - the story was she'd been hit by a car and suffered a broken leg, but talking this week with the woman who rescued her it seems clear she was hit or kicked by a person. She had surgery and the femur was pinned. This was 7-1/2 months ago and she's totally fine. Took her to the vet yesterday to get a checkup and shots and she pressed us to get health insurance for the pooch.
With our last dog, who died in December, we definitely had some emergencies that each time cost $2-3,000. We feel that kind of bill - heck, I'm getting a Firefly for the upper end of that, to put it in perspective- but it's akin to a major car repair much more than why we insure our house and health against potentially devastating loss.
So - what are people's thoughts about health insurance for pets, and if you support it, who are the best carriers with the best policies? Would look for high deductible so regular vet visits are on us.
Thanks!

My old man is a Vet. He recently sold his practice and is in semi-retirement. He strongly encouraged me to get pet insurance for my two Golden Retrievers. I got the insurance the day I picked each of them up from my breeder at 8 weeks old. I have a $250 deductible and 80% coverage and my premium is just over $90/month for two dogs. I’m happy to pay it because I don’t ever want to be in a position of having to put a dog down because I cannot afford the cost of emergent care, which is getting outrageously expensive given the trend towards corporate veterinary practices (VCA), centralized emergency clinics, and specialization. I use Healthy Paws.

Read the policies you are considering well, and the exclusions in particular. Pre-existing conditions obviously are not covered, and routine care, vaccines and neutering likely won’t be depending on the policy and premium.

[jtakeda]

We purchased pet medical insurance when our current dog joined the family. His breed (wheaten terrier) is notorious for allergies and protein absorption disorders. The price was reasonable at first (~$29/month), but has risen steeply as he has aged. Since he is very healthy at age 10 (minimal skin allergies, no other ailments), we are likely to cancel the coverage as the cost has nearly doubled recently.

A counter point: my sister's beagle required significant orthopedic surgery for a torn CCL. She told me that her dog's medical insurance saved her thousands of dollars.

Greg

This ^ as they get older it gets really expensive

It’s great if you have a young pet that’s otherwise healthy and has a freak accident. But I’m pretty sure OP dog would have that accident considered as a pre existing condition so any additional injuries that might be related won’t be covered.

I have a 2 year old cat with a befuddling immune reaction to her teeth. Her body basically thinks her own teeth are foreign objects and the cat is also blind. Pet insurance said they would cover exactly 0% of the dental work.

On the flip side my friend had a pet that would eat shoes/ shoelaces and needed to get a clump of stuff taken out of the intestine and insurance covered $1200 of the $2000 bill.

Personally I think you’d be better off just taking the $30/mo and putting it in a jar and if something happens to the dog you have your dog fund right there.

[dumbod]

Insurance companies are for-profit entities. That means that they expect to take in more in premiums than they pay out in benefits - actually much more than they pay out because they have operating expenses to pay before they make a profit. So my philosophy is to insure against catastrophe and pay for the rest out of pocket.

I definitely take a timing risk (if something happens tomorrow, I'm screwed) but over time, I'm much better off setting aside the monthly "premium" and investing it than paying an insurance company.

The questions that you have to be comfortable with is (1) what's the most that I would be willing/able to spend on my pet's health, (2) how likely is the pet to need that level of care and (3) am I disciplined enough to set aside enough every month as an "vet savings account."

[ultraman6970]

We have the basic insurance from banfield, as somebody says... read really well and get the plan you want, honestly if the animal looks ok I doubt you will need something related with that leg again because they heal extremely well and if the animal shows problems will be when he/she is old maybe over 8 years old and at that point you will notice the animal switching some switches off you know.

The other factor to account is the heritage, if you have a mixed rescued you pretty much dont know 100% the problem the animal will have when gets old, at that point you can change the plan to something else. IMO you have to be positive and think that nothing serious will happen or you will end up paying a lot more than for a person health insurance and not using it at all.

We have the basic plan at banfield anyways, helped with the medicines, vaccines and 3 or 6 months check ups which are for free. The other detail is what you want to do with the animal when gets old, some owners try to get them problem free in the case of cancer and stuff and threatthem like humans and honestly when you have an animal over 10 y/o which is super old for an animal IMO is more about quality of life and doing the best for the animal... mine lived like 12 y/o... his brother (same littler) looks like will get to 14 y/o which for a dog is way pass life expectancy so with him we are just waiting... the other thing is that eventhought they are the same litter, their problems arent exactly the same 100% because the one we still have is more lean to another side of the mix than his deseased brother.... ok this was too long and out of context :D

[tuxbailey]

I got insurance for the 2 kittens we got year and a half ago. it is about $30 per month for both. It doesn't cover annual check up and there is $250 annual deductible per cat. However, my previous cats had a lot of issues even at a young age so this we just want to get it for the peace of mind.

[Ken Robb]

I never had pet insurance until I married Leslie and her two insured bichons. They lived to 16 and 17. Now we have Eric and Annie. We rescued both. Eric is surely malti-poo because he had a chip and we were able to trace him to his original owner. Annie looks like a pure shih-tzu except her nose is too long so she's probably got some maltese, havanese, etc.

We have insurance on them too. They both have eaten things they shouldn't and we had vets induce vomiting just to be safe. In none of these cases was the stuff puked up really dangerous but we were happy to be extra careful and it cost us very little to have it done.

I guess we don't try to figure whether we get back more than we pay in premiums because that's not how insurance works. What we believe is we'd rather pay affordable premiums and never have to worry about catastrophic bills later. Heck, who wouldn't be delighted if they NEVER had to make a claim on ANY of their insurance policies.

BTW, last week Annie picked up a rubber doorstop on her way through the garage. When I saw her gnawing on it 30 minutes later it was half gone. Our vet was in surgery so we took her to our neighborhood Pet Smart to see one of the Banfield vets. They took her in as an emergency immediately, X-Rays showed almost all the tiny rubber bits still in her stomach. It was deemed unlikely to cause problems because there were no pieces big enough to cause a blockage but we had the puke treatment anyway just to be safe. Total charge was over $300 but we will get 80% back from insurance. It's nice to be cavalier when a vet warns us "this will cost----".

[sfscott]

Very happy with Nationwide.

They reimburse for part/all of routine care and minor visits. And you buy insurance for the possibility that something serious happens

[pdmtong]

My old man is a Vet. He recently sold his practice and is in semi-retirement. He strongly encouraged me to get pet insurance for my two Golden Retrievers. I got the insurance the day I picked each of them up from my breeder at 8 weeks old. I have a $250 deductible and 80% coverage and my premium is just over $90/month for two dogs. I’m happy to pay it because I don’t ever want to be in a position of having to put a dog down because I cannot afford the cost of emergent care, which is getting outrageously expensive given the trend towards corporate veterinary practices (VCA), centralized emergency clinics, and specialization. I use Healthy Paws.

Read the policies you are considering well, and the exclusions in particular. Pre-existing conditions obviously are not covered, and routine care, vaccines and neutering likely won’t be depending on the policy and premium.

IMHO this is the critical decision point.
Having a pet means bills - food, regular vet, occasional more involved vet.

The worst place to be is facing major bill (s) with a somewhat older pet (say 6-8 years) and being forced to decide weighing life, quality of life and budget.

Insurance as noted is for profit. so it depends on your risk and budget tolerance.

When our malamute needed radiation treatment, a dermatologist and an ophthalmologist it was expensive - expensive enough it hurt but not so expensive it couldn't be done. and when I added up the pet insurance we might have paid plus coverage there wasnt a big offset

Personally, I would plan to be able to have $2500 for an emergency and/or bank the monthly premiums you would have paid.

[AngryScientist]

The generally accepted first rule of insurance is "never insure against a risk you can afford to absorb".

i think most people would be better served throwing a hundred bucks a month in a dedicated "self insurance" account from when the dog is a puppy, rather than paying premiums for non-complete coverage.

of course, the whole insurance business is based on risk, and collected premium offsetting claims, so the above strategy would probably work out better for most people, and not well at all for some. it's a calculated risk, but if your finances are such that you can float a couple thousand dollar bill if necessary, pet insurance, for a classically healthy pooch is probably not a wise monthly expense.

IMO

[buddybikes]

Yikes!!!! older pet (say 6-8 years)

21 year old Parrot
7 year old american eskimo dog
5 year old american eskimo dog
14 year old cat

and me lets just say I am well over adding the above together

[djg21]

IMHO this is the critical decision point.
Having a pet means bills - food, regular vet, occasional more involved vet.

The worst place to be is facing major bill (s) with a somewhat older pet (say 6-8 years) and being forced to decide weighing life, quality of life and budget.

Insurance as noted is for profit. so it depends on your risk and budget tolerance.

When our malamute needed radiation treatment, a dermatologist and an ophthalmologist it was expensive - expensive enough it hurt but not so expensive it couldn't be done. and when I added up the pet insurance we might have paid plus coverage there wasnt a big offset

Personally, I would plan to be able to have $2500 for an emergency and/or bank the monthly premiums you would have paid.

$2,500 will not get much in terms of emergency veterinary care these days. I had a 1 year old puppy develop an obstruction and peritonitis, and if I didn’t have a veterinarian in the family, I would have spent well over $10,000 for surgeries and ultrasounds and everything else. A few nights in an emergency clinic when I could get my dog to my dad’s office was close to $2,000.

[makoti]

Insurance companies are for-profit entities. That means that they expect to take in more in premiums than they pay out in benefits - actually much more than they pay out because they have operating expenses to pay before they make a profit. So my philosophy is to insure against catastrophe and pay for the rest out of pocket.

I definitely take a timing risk (if something happens tomorrow, I'm screwed) but over time, I'm much better off setting aside the monthly "premium" and investing it than paying an insurance company.

The questions that you have to be comfortable with is (1) what's the most that I would be willing/able to spend on my pet's health, (2) how likely is the pet to need that level of care and (3) am I disciplined enough to set aside enough every month as an "vet savings account."

This. Paying the Ins Co $6400 over the life of a pet ($45/mo IF it doesn't increase) is, for most people, a losing bet. However, there are those who can pay a premium monthly & not miss, but can't put away the same amount on their own without raiding the till. I fully get wanting a backup so money doesn't enter into the care equation. I've had 10 dogs over my adult life, most stayed very healthy until the end. I had two dogs get very ill within months of each other. Ran up $20K in bills for the two of them. Only one pulled through, but I'd spend it again. NOW I put money away. Late, but my next pet will be covered.

[pdmtong]

$2,500 will not get much in terms of emergency veterinary care these days. I had a 1 year old puppy develop an obstruction and peritonitis, and if I didn’t have a veterinarian in the family, I would have spent well over $10,000 for surgeries and ultrasounds and everything else. A few nights in an emergency clinic when I could get my dog to my dad’s office was close to $2,000.

there is no scenario where I spend $10k in an emergency on the family pet. Yes, the dogs in our house were family members (the malamute was in our wedding picture) but they are dogs and $10k is $10k. I know others will see this differently, especially if they spent $3k on the designer doodle.

our white German shepard had an undetected splenic tumor that burst. everything was great at 2:00 (just had he 2mile run) and by 5:00 she could not stand up and by 10:00pm the emergency vet is saying the surgery would be $8k with a 30% chance of another two months survival. imagine your pet is doing great and suddenly that night poof gone. at least it was not a hard decision either quality of life or economic

[djg21]

there is no scenario where I spend $10k in an emergency on the family pet. Yes, the dogs in our house were family members (the malamute was in our wedding picture) but they are dogs and $10k is $10k. I know others will see this differently, especially if they spent $3k on the designer doodle.

our white German shepard had an undetected splenic tumor that burst. everything was great at 2:00 (just had he 2mile run) and by 5:00 she could not stand up and by 10:00pm the emergency vet is saying the surgery would be $8k with a 30% chance of another two months survival. imagine your pet is doing great and suddenly that night poof gone. at least it was not a hard decision either quality of life or economic

There are decisions that are easier to make no matter how heartbreaking. For instance, you would not pay thousands of dollars to provide chemotherapy to an older dog. And of course there are medical conditions that cannot be effectively treated. But if your dog needs emergent care or surgery, or is diagnosed with a treatable cancer, $2,500 won’t go very far, and it would really suck to have to put a down a dog down because the necessary care is too expensive to justify paying.

[pdmtong]

There are decisions that are easier to make no matter how heartbreaking. For instance, you would not pay thousands of dollars to provide chemotherapy to an older dog. And of course there are medical conditions that cannot be effectively treated. But if your dog needs emergent care or surgery, or is diagnosed with a treatable cancer, $2,500 won’t go very far, and it would really suck to have to put a down a dog down because the necessary care is too expensive to justify paying.

we are on the same page...I feel lucky that I have not had to make that hard choice between money and life. And while I said I would not spend $10k (I wouldn't) it would still bother me a lot and for a long time if I had to make that choice.

[zap]

Spoke to my mom last night.......she is paying CAD$70/mo. for her 9 month old Bichon puppy. I advised her to not renew the policy as she can afford sizeable bills should the unfortunate need arise.

[NHAero]

Thanks all for very helpful input.