By Lois M. Baron
People buy pet insurance for peace of mind. But in truth, insurance coverage comes with so many variations from so many different providers that you can’t sign on any old dotted line and assume all will be well.
True, insurance can cover things like emergency care, cancer treatments, some surgeries and prescriptions. But the devil is always in the details: Some policies exclude specific breeds. Regular exams — which can run into hundreds of dollars with tests and vaccinations — usually aren’t covered. Reimbursement might be capped per year or per diagnosis. And the list goes on.
The Veterinary Specialty Hospital in San Diego’s Sorrento Valley sums up the situation in a blog post: “Research shows that owners with pets who are generally healthy throughout their life will pay more in premiums than they will receive in claims. However, there’s no way to know if you are getting the puppy or kitten that is going to be perfectly healthy. You could get the one that is going to eat his toys, roll with the porcupines, develop kidney disease, or help himself to your favorite chocolate bar.”
And therein lies the dilemma: To insure or not to insure?
Heather Pendley, who lives just north of San Diego, currently has insurance on her two dogs. But she has waffled over the years. She described having had a cat that used up its nine lives, each with an expensive vet visit. When she looked into insurance for it, she couldn’t find a policy that would cover everything she wanted.
Then the family took out insurance when they got a puppy, and it helped with one surgery, but as the dog aged, the premiums became cost prohibitive.
But she’s decided insurance is worth it. She pays $70 a month for her two dogs, aged 3 1/2 and 9. She says she compared two or three companies and chose Figo. Pendley also has a premium Petco Vital Care membership. For $19.99 a month, a member gets unlimited routine vet exams at all Vetco Total Care locations or $20 Vital Care Rewards for exams at non-Petco vets.
We love our pets, but they are expensive. And, according to a Forbes Advisor survey in 2022, 42 percent of pet owners said they can’t cover a surprise vet bill of $999 or less. Maybe that’s why there was, according to data from the North American Pet Insurance Association, more than a 22 percent increase in the number of owners insuring their pets in 2022.
The organization also reports that since 2018 the average annual growth rate of insured pets is 22.5 percent, with dogs making up the vast majority of insured pets.
This could get messy
Linda Chavez encourages people to compare policies from various companies. Based in Los Angeles, Chavez is the founder and CEO of Seniors Life Insurance. “Shopping around and making sure you get the best policy at the best price is essential for any insurance purchase,” she advises. “And read the fine print.”
Ask your vet for advice and talk with pet-loving friends about their experience. Also check online information and reviews. Pet Insurance Review, for example, corrals information from 17 companies. Pawlicy Advisor is another resource. Pricing for insurance takes into consideration:
- A pet’s age (older is more expensive)
- Breed (some have hereditary factors that make them prone to illness)
- Location (California is one of the more expensive states, unfortunately)
- Preexisting conditions
- If more than one pet will be covered
Also, pricing is a balancing act of premium (what you pay each month), deductible (how much you pay before insurance kicks in), and benefit caps (the total an insurance company will pay).
“Insurance providers often offer customizable plans, allowing pet owners to choose coverage that best fits their needs and budget,” notes Michael Thompson, founder and lead veterinarian at Pets Food Safety. But you need to grit your teeth and do the math. The higher costs of wellness care, for instance, can offset any savings.
One of the best things about pet insurance, Thompson believes, is that it gives pet owners “the financial confidence to make the best decisions for their pets.”
Start young
Experts agree that taking out a pet insurance policy for pets when they’re young and healthy can pay off if they run into complicated injuries or illnesses.
Mallory Crusta, brand manager of Cats.com, says, “Treatment for swallowed string, for instance, can bring you vet bills in the thousands of dollars, and a long-term condition like diabetes may go into the tens of thousands. This is where pet insurance can help you the most.”
Premiums are lower for younger animals, and odds are there are no preexisting conditions that would exclude payments down the line.
For high-earning people who have a good savings cushion, it might make more fiscal sense to skip insurance and keep adding to an account earmarked for emergency pet care.
But for most of us, the bottom line is that pet insurance is like any other insurance: You wish you didn’t have the premiums, but if you’ve chosen the right coverage you’ll be relieved you paid them if faced with the price of the unexpected.
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