Pet Insurance Quotes

Looking for the better pet health insurance quotes?

Ten or twenty years ago, people never thought about enrolling their pets in health insurance plans. Today, vets can perform organ transplants and administer chemotherapy.

Joint replacements are routine. MRI technology and other sophisticated techniques and tools are easily accessible.

People in the United States are just becoming aware of the protection afforded by pet health insurance. Fewer than five percent of American pet owners have their pets insured.

In contrast, almost one-fifth of Canadian pet owners have coverage, compared with a whopping half of all Swedish pet owners.

More and more people are realizing that the low cost of a monthly payment protects them from the huge, insurmountable veterinary bill that comes with catastrophe.

Affordable Pet Insurance Makes the Difference

Pet Health Insurance Quotes - Things to Consider

• When you investigate pet health insurance quotes, you should first consider the plan limit. Does it specify a lifetime benefit as well as a yearly limit? Is there a limit per incident?

  Keep in mind that removing foreign bodies from a pet's stomach or even repairing a broken limb costs well over a thousand dollars. If you have a pet with more than one illness or accident per year, it can be pretty expensive!

• Next you should choose a deductible that fits your budget. You pay less for plans with a higher deductible. However, it's no good having a $500 deductible if you know, right off the bat, that you can't come up with it. Many plans do, in fact, specify $100 deductibles, which is a manageable amount.

• And how does the plan reimburse once you've met the deductible? Some pay an allowable amount, which is a fixed amount set by an insurance company for a specific procedure in a particular geographic area. Others will process the bill as it is submitted by the vet and reimburse you for 80% of the bill. That means if you spend $600 on treatment, you pay the $100 deductible, leaving $500, and then the plan puts four-fifths of that back into your pocket--$400.

• Next, investigate whether the plan covers congenital conditions. They are inherited predispositions to certain conditions that can be identified at birth even though they might take years to develop. For example, hip or elbow dysplasia can be predicted when a pup is born based on the formation of his joints, and not all companies will cover it. Look at the provider's website for a list of congenital conditions that the plan will not reimburse.

• You also need to find out if the company excludes certain conditions in specific breeds. If you cannot find it on the website, send the company an email before you sign up.

• On-going conditions are those that develop while your plan is in effect. Often when it's time to renew, that condition becomes identified as a pre-existing condition, and then it will no longer be covered. That's because most companies simply don't cover pre-existing conditions. You can ask the company if it offers a continuing care option. This is a small rider paid on top of your regular monthly premium so that the new condition continues to be covered in the next benefit year. However, if your pet has a condition that is easily cured it is not counted as a pre-existing condition in the next benefit year. Most plans specify that if a vet says the condition has been cured for six months, it no longer pre-exists.

• Ask if your plan will cover prescriptions. Sometimes a dog or cat needs an inexpensive anti-inflammatory or antibiotic medication to treat a simple condition. And some heart or respiratory aids can be quite expensive.

• Does your policy cover charges for the middle of the night? No one can guarantee that an accident will happen during normal business hours. If you have to meet your vet at his office at 2:00 a.m., you want to know his extra fee for this will be covered.

• Whenever you discuss a course of treatment with your vet, it's wise to contact the company ahead of time to be certain they'll pay. In fact, some insurance companies require this type of pre-certification-you call them ahead of time to get authorization to proceed.

Pet Health Insurance - Not Everything is Included

When looking for pet health insurance quotes, it is interesting to know that there are some procedures that typically are not covered.

• Ear docking, clipping dew claws, docking tails

• Some parasites are not covered. For example, heartworms can be prevented by medication. Ask your vet and check with your plan.

• Vitamins and herbal supplements.

• Cruciate ligament injuries; some policies cover them after a waiting period.

• Dysplasias; some policies cover them, some don't.

• Liver shunts.

• Patellar luxation, which is a tendency for the knee to become disjointed, especially in smaller dogs.

• Von Willebrand Disease, which is a bleeding disorder.

• Diabetes.

• Epilepsy.

• Addison's disease, which is a kidney disorder.

• Breeding expenses.

• Pregnancy expenses are covered for most breeds of cats and dogs. But since some are excluded, check with the plan.

Every plan is different! It's wise to check specifically for any of these procedures or conditions with the companies you're considering when going for pet insurance quotes.

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