Pet Insurance...For it.....or Against it...and why - Page 1

There was some discussion on another thread about pet insurance. I think it deserves some further discussion so decided to start a thread specifically for that purpose.

Pet Insurance....are you for it.....or against it?

Me personally.....I'm for it.
Why.......because it offers me peace of mind and the security of knowing that if something major happens (and it has), I won't be forced to make a decision based purely on financial reasons.

Cisco is the first dog I've insured and I'll admit that at first I was a skeptic. However, after receiving a check reimbursing me for Cisco's office visits to his regular vet(100%), the orthopedic surgeon(80%), and the neurologist(80%), the the X-rays(100%), the MRI(80%), the surgery to remove the mass(80%), the stay at the clinic(80%), and all of his medicine(100%), I'm glad that I chose to insure him. In addition, if the mass had been cancerous they would have reimbursed me for the cancer treatments. During the time, neither my vet nor the specialist asked whether I carrier pet insurance and they each gave me a quote with a high and low amount for their services.

I chose PetPlan for my insurance company and the Gold level of insurance coverage.
I chose them for a lot of reasons:
My SAR teammate has used several different companies and has placed thousands of dollars worth of claims over the years. PetPlan is the only one that has not raised her rates after a claim and has always reimbursed her.
They allow you to chose what amount of deductible your willing to pay and they offer different levels of insurance coverage.
They cover genetic issues...including surgery for hip and elbow dysplasia.
They cover cancer treatment.
And they gave me a discount on my premium because Cisco is in training for SAR work.

They don't cover pre-existing conditions or routine vet care, but I did not insure him for that. I insured him for the big stuff.
Sure there are companies (VPI) that cover that but, in my opinion, if you can't afford to pay for routine care and the little stuff like a spay/neuter, you have no business owning a pet.

For what it's worth....I don't believe that pet insurance is the cause of increased fees vets charge for services.
I think most vets fees are based on the area demography. They charge what they do out of necessity, because they can or a combination of both.

Here is a link that I found to help give some basic correct information, as I was following that "other" thread, too,  and thought some of the POV's expressed don't make much sense to me.

https://www.avma.org/public/PetCare/Pages/pet-insurance.aspx

I think it is a matter of individual choice. Cherie, I usually opt out of insurance if I get a choice. Usually, but that's because I can afford the consequenses of not having insurance.

I certainly think a sport dog ups the ante for an injury to happen, too, so it makes sense for you. And fortunately for you, your experience is exactly why people will choose to insure a beloved pet.

I find it interesting that it is all the modern equipment getting all the blame for high vet bills. I think that reason has some wiggle room to kick around. I mean, the hospitals, not each vet office would be state of the art at any given moment. Why would a vet office have everything a hospital has? Why would I pay for that and when do I stop paying for that? I think that is a bogus answer, myself. 

Against it, looks like a huge waste of money.  Everyone I know that has it has already paid more on a 2-3 year old dog than I've paid over the lifetime of all my dogs combined just paying the actual vet bill.  They keep complaining that the costs go up, have to fight to get reimbursed, etc.  It's going to drive up the cost of vet care like privatized, for-profit health insurance has done with medical care.  I don't belive in it for people so I am certainly not going to waste my money on it for pets.  If I can't afford reasonable vet care and an emergency here or there then I shouldn't own pets.  I have a great vet and he's not a rip off (my dog is having minor surgery in a few weeks for $125 total).  I've never spent more than $300 at a time at the vet (and even that would be including multiple things).  As far as genetic issues I prefer to do the research up front.  Every dog is a risk but that's a risk I accept as a dog owner and do my best to minimize by studying the health of the lines, if that is important to me.

I have not seen any one offer information on what they pay for premiums. Maybe some one who is a proponent for pet health insurance can share that information.

For those that want to know, here's the Petplan Gold level of coverage. 
I think we started out at $394 yearly and I insured him at 9 weeks old. Cisco is now 2 years old and I pay $107 quarterly.
It would be less if I chose a lower level of coverage and reimbersement.  

Petplan dog insurance plan comparison table:

		bronze	silver	gold
veterinary fees		$8,000	$12,000	$20,000
boarding kennel fees			$250	$500
advertising + reward			$250	$500
loss due to theft or straying			$250	$500
death from illness or injury				$1,000
vacation cancellation				$1,000
customize your policy to fit your budget
deductible		choice of $50, $100 or $200 deductible
reimbursement		choice of 100%, 90% or 80% reimbursement

That table doesn't give the premiums, is that the limit they pay up to?

Sorry...those limits are what they pay up to per year. It doesn't matter if you have several different claims.
They don't have a premium table that I'm aware of but they will give you a free quote.

I forgot to add that I chose 100% reimbursement and a deductible of $200.00 per incident.
If I take Cisco to my regular vet they will reimburse me at 100%.
If I take him to a specialist the reimbursement is 80%, and I'm pretty sure that no matter what level of reimbursement you choose a specialist is always at 80%.

I think it depends on locale too.  $200 deductible would be worthless for me because my dog is having surgery in two places for less than that.  However it seems that in other parts of the country it costs 4-5 times as much for the same basic stuff.  I've heard of people paying $500 just for a set of OFA x-rays (I pay $80, they re-take until they get the positioning right and I get to keep all the films myself).

"If I can't afford reasonable vet care and an emergency here or there then I shouldn't own pets." - VKGSDs

I agree 100% with this statement here. In my personal experience working in a vet clinic, I can tell you that (at least at my clinic) our prices have nothing to do with pet insurance. We don't even ask if clients have pet insurance, it really doesn't affect us at all. What a lot of people don't realize is that pet insurance works quite a bit differently that human insurance. I was actually debating whether or not to get insurance for my dogs but after a pet insurance rep came to talk about the plans they offer, it actually helped me to decide against it.

My reason being is that I've been fortunate enough that my pets have always been very healthy. It's just not worth it in my case to pay for this "peace of mind" since most insurance plans do not cover basic wellness. If you are the type that really needs that peace of mind, for that just in case, then it might be worth it for you.