PET HEALTH INSURANCE....
IS IT FOR ME???
As Newfoundland breeders, we feel one of our biggest responsibilities is to provide information for current and prospective Newfoundland owners. We noticed we were getting LOTS of requests for our opinions on pet insurance. Since we dont carry pet insuirance on our dogs (cost prohibitive for the number of dogs we have). we decided to do some research and post our finding on our website. Below is the information we compiled.
We are often asked our views on health insurance for our puppies. I DO NOT have health insurance on our adults or puppies, so I have NO personal experience with it.
Our vet didnt have many clients that had pet insurance, but did have a few. His view is that the coverage was good, as long as the owner realizes the limits.
It is also important to realize that pet insurance works quite differently from the health insurance most of us have for ourselves. We are used to being able to go to the doctor, pay a small co-payment, and then the insurance reimburses the doctor, lab, hospital, etc at a later date. Most of us do not have to pay the total doctor or hospital bill, and then wait for reimbursement from our insurance, which is how petinsurance works.
The most important thing to realize is that pet health insurance is a "reimbursement only" type of plan. Unlike health insurance for humans, when you use pet health insurance, the vets fees are paid up front by the customer, and then the insurance company reimburses the pet owner at a later date. This means in an emergency ,you will need to be able to come up with the money to pay the vet bill up front, then wait for reimbursement.
My vets opinion of these policies was that for some items, the pet insurance provided very good reimbursement rates, while for others, the reimbursement rates didnt provide much help considering the total cost of treatment. For some people, the pet insurance would be well worth the cost, while for others, it may not be such a good investment. A lot depends on your ability to pay for expensive treatments in the first place, since you will need to pay the bills yourself, and then be reimbursed.
Most companies have several different levels of protection the consumer can choose from. They have very basic policies that cover ONLY serious illness, disease or trauma, then they also have very comprehensive policies that cover routine vaccinations, spay/neuter, flea and tick meds. heartworm meds, prescription meds etc IN ADDITION to coverage for serious illness, disease or trauma.
A few companies have policies that cover accidents ONLY, no illness or disease is covered at all.
Most companies have riders that can be added on for cancer or for routine vaccinations, worming etc. The charges for the add on policies for vaccinations and checkups was usually around $100 annually, due in a lump sum in addition to the regular monthly premium rates. I couldnt find any rates on cancer riders, athough some companies offered them.
NOTE:
Ask your vet if THEY have any specials that cover routine vaccinations.
As an example, my vet offers the following "special rates" for all clients, which are much more affordable than the plans offered by some of the Insurance Companies:
ADULT DOGS: $69 covers a DHLPPC shot, Heartworm test, fecal exam, worming (for treatment of Roundworms or Hookworms only....treatment for whipworm or tapeworm is not included since the treatment is much more expensive) and a physical exam,
PUPPIES: $39 covers the puppy vaccination, fecal exam, worming (for treatment of Roundworms or Hookworms only....treatment for whipworm or tapeworm is not included since the treatment is much more expensive), and physical exam.
Most policies do not cover congenital [present at birth], pre-existing or hereditary diseases or disorders
It appears that EMBRACE, PETPLAN and PURINA all cover hereditary conditions, but again, CHECK, CHECK and then CHECK again before getting a policy. Call them and ask for a list of all exclusions and "what's not covered" lists. Ask for a list of the reimburesment amounts. In looking over some of these policies I thought they looked great, until I REALLY did some deep digging, only then did I find out the coverage was very small or non existent for some illnesses or injuries.
Since research shows that up to 25% of Newfs are affected to some degree with hip/elbow problems, it doesnt seem like the best idea to purchase a policy that excludes hip/elbow dysplasia. especially since policies that DO cover them are very comparable in price to those that dont.
NOTE: This 25% statistic seems to stand true even with cleared parents. Cleared parents seem to decrease the frequency and SEVERITY of hip and elbow problems, but definitely doesnt mean your pups will not have hip or elbow problems.
Most do not list exclusions seperately, but I would think most exclude treatment for SAS since it is congenital. Even though symptoms may not appear until the dog is older, SAS is considered to be present at birth. Sadly, severe SAS presently is an untreatable condition, although it may be able to be controlled medically for a period of time.
A few policies seem to cover congenital problems. Take a good look at EMBRACE and PETPLAN, as they seemed the most comprehensive at the time I looked at them.
Again...DO NOT take my suggestions here and purchase a plan. CHECK THEM OUT yourself! I found at least one plan that had changed its exclusions from when I first looked at it 1 year ago, so DO YOUR HOMEWORK, and do it diligently!!! Pet insurance can be an incredibly good investment, but ONLY if there are no surprises about what is and is not covered.
It is IMPERATIVE that you understand what it is you are purchasing.
I'm not sure about the coverage status of hip dyspasia, since this is widely considered to be the result of environmental, nutritional and hereditary influences.Coverage for hip dysplasia would need to be checked with the specific company and policy you were considering. It looks like some policies cover it, while some others may not. A BIG thing to check is the reimbursement rates for any illnesses or accidents. I came across some policies that very prominently displayed "INCLUDES HEREDITARY CONDITIONS" on their website, yet by digging deeper, their coverage for hip/elbow dysplasia (as an example) was limited to $200. While $200 is nothing to sneeze at, it certainly is just a tiny drop in the bucket for the cost of treating hip dysplasia. These types of reimbursements seem to be more of a marketing ploy to make people think they are in fact getting coverage for hereditary conditions, when for all practical purposes, the policy doesnt cover them..
HOWEVER, there are many, many serious and expensive diseases, disorders, traumas etc that would be covered under these types of policies, just not hereditary disorders.
Most companies allow you to use the vet of your choice.
The rates varied from as low as $10 a month for accident only coverage, to close to $75 month for the most comprehensive coverages.
Rates varied widely from plan to plan within the same company, and from company to company.
Rates varied depending on the age of the dog, some companies rates varied depending on the breed also.
The coverage that different companies offered for hereditary and congenital disease and disorder varied widely.
Coverages for routine vaccinations etc averaged around $100 year.
I couldnt find any rates on cancer riders, athough some companies offered them.
Most charge a deductible of anywhere from $50-300 per accident or injury.(follow up visits for the same accident or injury are usually covered under a single deductible)
Most companies offer discounts for multiple pets.
Most companies say their claims are paid within 5 business days of receipt.
Some companies only cover ACL procedures after the policy has been in force 1 year.
As an EXAMPLE only...the following are some benefits offered by VPI according to their website:
Pacemaker:
$1400 Primary diagnosis
$315 Testing Allowance
$210 Primary Anesthesia
Gastric Torsion Surgical (Bloat Surgery...An EXTREME Emergency)
$1617 Primary diagnosis
$236 Testing allowance
$140 Primary anesthesia
Atopic/Allergic Dermatitis
$91 Primary Diagnosis
$168 Testing Allowance
Pyometra surgery (Severe Uterine Infection..usually an EMERGENCY type of situation)
$560 Primary Diagnosis
$136 Testing Allowance
$110 Primary anesthesia
Heat Stroke (Usually an EMERGENCY)
$304 Primary Diagnosis
$147 Testing Allowance
Cruciate Rupture Surgical (Surgery usually only option)
$1207 Primary Diagnosis
$152 Testing Allowance
$125 Primary anesthesia
Specialized Diagnostic Tests
MRI $400 (MRI's in this area normally run close to $700)
CT Scan $400 (CT scans in this area usually run close to $700)
Myelogram $140 (Have no information on the normal costs of mylo's in this area)
Ultrasound/Echocardiogram $ 150 (An Echocardiogram at the Univ of MO to detect the cause of a heart murmur in a puppy runs about $275. An Ultrasound done in a vets office to verify pregnancy runs about $275...I dont know if $275 is the typical cost for all diagnostic ultrasounds or echocardiograms, but suspect it probaby runs around that.)
From the benefit schedule listed above, it is easy to see that the coverage can be helpful in many situations, but the out of pocket costs for the pet owner are still substantial. I dont have any personal experience with any of the above surgeries, but I think Cruciate Rupture repairs normally run in the area of $2500 and up..
The coverage above looks pretty good, and the reimburesement rates are substantial BUT, further investigation of the company revealed that VPI specifically excludes hip and elbow dysplasia as well as OCD.....THIS is why it is SO important to thoroughly investigate the plan you choose. Its one thing to go with the plan above, KNOWING it wont cover hip or elbow dysplasia. Its quite another to THINK it will cover this, only to find out it is excluded if your dog develops hip or elbow problems.
One thing to ask yourself before deciding to purchase coverage is this:
Could I afford to pay for the initial treatments and wait for reimbursement.
If the answer is no, then the insurance will not be of much use to you, regardless of the monthly premium, reimburesement rates or coverages.
Another thing to consider:
This type of insurance does NOT cover the totaI cost of treatment in most cases.If the total benefit allowance is $2500 for a given procedure, but the procedue's total cost is $4000, can I afford the $1500 that wont be covered by the policy?
Again, if you cant afford your portion of the treatment, then the benefit allowance is irrelevent.
This brings up a good point about dog ownership in general:
It is understandable to have to make decisions on what you can and cant afford when the treatment costs run into thousands of dollars. Most of us do not have thousands of dollars sitting around. But what about when treatment costs run several hundreds of dollars? For dogs the size of Newfs, it is not unusual to have a "normal" vet bill of several hundred dollars for diagnosis, treatment and medications for "normal" problems. My personal feeling is that this falls under the normal costs of pet ownership, and if several hundred dollars in vet bills would cause an extreme hardship, you may want to reconsider whether this is a good time to welcome a Newf puppy into the family.
A good personal example I have is a surgery Grizzy needed on his ear. He had to have an aurel hematoma repair. This isn't an emergency type of surgery. It isnt life threatening unless it is let go for a while, but the longer the hematoma is let go, the more serious and costly the repair can end up being.
The total cost of the hematoma repair was almost $600.
According to VPI's site, my maximum reimbursement would have been right under $440. The reimbursement would have been substantial in this case, but I STILL had to have the $600 to pay for the surgery to begin with.
As you can see, there is much to think about concerning pet insurance and your family's personal situation.
It is necessary to THOROUGHLY examine and understand the coverages, limits and exclusions before any decision is made to purchase coverage.
One option is to purchase a GOOD pet insurance policy, and then also have a clear credit card with no balance to cover the initial expense, then pay the balance off when you get your reimbursement from the policy. There is also an option called CareCredit, which is a credit card that can ONLY be used for health care. My understanding is that it can be used for human or animal health care, but again, check this out yourself.
My opinion (and this is MY opinion only!!!) is that anyone considering dog ownership should be prepared to pay for the "small stuff", the vaccinations, spay/neuter, normal vet care for minor illness or injury etc, themselves. Policies that cover "major medical", cancer, accident only, etc would be extremely helpful if they were ever needed. Again, how helpful they would be all depends on your ability to pay for expensive treatments in the first place, and how good the plan is that you go with.
For more in depth information, ask your vet for a brochure, or better yet, do an online search on pet insurance and take a GOOD, HARD look at some of the companies that come up.
VPI (Veterinary Pet Insurance) is one of the oldest and best known companies offering this product, but doesnt appear to cover hereditary conditions including hip and elbow dysplasia.
EMBRACE looks pretty good, as does PETPLAN.
PURINACARE looks good on their website.
PETSBEST offers protection for life, but their policy doesnt cover hip/elbow dysplasia and also looks confusing on if and what they pay for ACL injuries.
