Pet health insurance--what do you think?

[ginnyinWI]

I have never had any pet insurance before. But today I put $269 on my Visa for an office visit, some blood work and a bacterial culture for my cat. It seems I can never set foot in a vet's office without a three figure bill. Last summer same cat had surgery that cost $793.

Insurance would be $24 a month. But then if the cat doesn't get sick I am out the money. And there is a big deductible ($500) and they'd only pay 80% of any bills after that.

I'd buy a discount card--there is one called Pet Assure that you pay a yearly fee for and then get 25% off each and every vet visit, but the selection of vets is very limited and I'd have to travel a half hour one way for the closest one.

What do you all do?

[mopinko]

1. have a kitty

that is, a jar to put the money in. save up what your insurance charges. they make money doing that, you can too.

[NYC_SKP]

2. No no a thousand times no.

I'm right there with you and using the same vet on my third dog now.

The industry is copying the human being model, with blood tests and liver pills and special diets.

I'm going along for the ride for now but will jump off the bus here really soon.

I'm paying for treatments and a series of pills for worms and shit based on the results of tests that didn't exist in 1988, yet that first dog (Bridgette God Rest Her Soul) never needed tests or pills.

Insurance???? Oh, hell no.

X(

[JeffHead]

4. +1

Like we don't give enough money to insurance companies already.

[nadine_mn]

3. We have had 4 dogs (2 have passed on) and a kitty

And sweet mother the vet gets more and more expensive and more shit needs to get done that never had to be done before. So we have thought about getting pet insurance when if we ever get another dog or cat, but then I read this from Consumer Reports:

"Pet insurance generally cost more than it paid out in our latest comparison of policies. Only in uncommon cases, when a pet required very expensive care, would the coverage have more than paid for itself."


Full article at link

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine-archive/2011/august/money/pet-costs/pet-insurance-rarely-worth-the-price-in-our-analysis/index.htm

Obviously, if you have one of those uncommon cases you would be glad you had it - but it really doesn't seem worth it.

[Curmudgeoness]

5. I think it depends on you.

I am generally against pet insurance, but every one of my five cats (past and present) have cost me dearly. So why do I say it depends?

Do you have the ability to pay for care? How much are you willing to do for your pet? Could you afford the 20% you would be responsible for after that $500 for a pricey treatment? How much do like your vet as opposed to a vet who would take the insurance? Does the insurance cover all procedures? At any costs? Since your cat has already had some issues, is anything "pre-existing condition" that would keep you from having coverage for all problems you might have?

My opinion is that many people would have trouble getting the $500 deductible, and after that, would not be able to afford too much more anyways. And when an animal does get sick, many times it is not treatable.....what then?

Personally opinion, I would save all the money I would have to spend on the insurance for a rainy day.

[ginnyinWI]

11. Hard questions!

It seems like the pet insurance companies won't operate at a loss--that most of the time they make a profit. For an individual pet that requires a lot of stuff, they lose, but most of the time they come out ahead. So we assume our own risk when we don't insure.

This time it is already a pre-existing condition. I'm just wondering it there isn't a way to not get stuck with all the bills in the future. But anything you pay by the month--be it cable TV, phones, and insurance-gets very expensive because it goes on and on. Might be better to just budget for it--like an imaginary Health Savings Account for the pets.

Yes we could afford the insurance, but I'm thinking that the deductible is so high and the 20% added in is still something to pay, and regular checkups and immunizations aren't covered, and dental cleanings aren't either, so it's only once in a great while that we'd be getting very much back.


Then there is a question of how much is too much to spend on an individual pet. I look at other people who have spent, say $4000 on a dog and I think they are being kind of silly. But it isn't that easy: they don't come to you and say, "we need $4000 to treat your pet" It comes little by little. First one test, and then another, and on and on and on. Try this treatment, and then no, try this other one, etc. And how do we know what's right because we aren't the vets.

[Curmudgeoness]

20. We might not be the vet,

but I usually will have a long conversation with my vet about things----I ask him what the test will show, how important it is (and I do understand that when an animal is sick, they cannot tell us what hurts, we can only look to testing), what will we do differently if the results of the test come in one way or the other, is there a chance of a "cure", and the most important, if this was your pet, what would you do?

I am sure that I have spent the kind of money that you find silly on some of my cats, but it is as you have said, bits and pieces. Right now, I have an expensive cat---a rescue who came with many problems that have continued, but are controlled. He appears healthy and happy, so we keep up all the ritual like special food to keep his stool from being liquid, draining anal glands about once a month since they do not drain naturally, removed most of his teeth because of horrible stomatitis and he is on steroids and water additives to keep the gums from getting worse, as well as frequent tooth cleaning, also to keep the stomatitis from flaring up. All this from when I adopted him.....and all kept in check. But not without cost.

So you can see that I am able to self-insure (to a point and as long as it is bits and pieces spaced out). I think that this is a personal decision, for you as well as me, based on what we know about our own finances. I don't blame anyone for getting insurance, and I don't judge when they don't. Do what will be best for YOU.

[ginnyinWI]

21. your first paragraph contains the most important thing, I think

And that is asking what will change if we have the test. I did ask that about this current situation and it comes down to a) it could be cured because it is caused by a foreign object that somehow got into her sinus cavity, or b) it is a slow growing cancer inside the sinus cavity and can not be cured. So I will go ahead with it, to give her that chance. You don't want to have a test just to satisfy curiosity; you want to be able to make an improvement, or at least have a chance to, by finding out something.

[Curmudgeoness]

23. Yes, I do believe that "curiosity" is often the only reason

for some testing. I would do the same thing that you are doing in that situation. Also, even if it is cancer, at least you will know and can ask what you should expect and how to know when it is time to worry about your pet suffering.

[intheflow]

6. Many people recommended Pet Assure to me when my dog was attacked

a couple months ago. His surgery cost me about $500 that I didn't have but I'm lucky enough to have a boyfriend who ponied up the money. Many of my facebook friends and family recommended the Pet Assure card to help me in the future. I haven't applied for it because my credit is so very bad I'm sure I'll be denied, but some of them even said they'd gotten it with bad credit. My vet isn't on their list, either, but then, my vet is pretty inexpensive and affiliated with the local humane society so that adopters can afford to care for their pets after they've adopted.

[KathyS]

10. Try this Discount Program!

I have Pet Assure. There are no limitations or pre-qualifications because it is not like the typical "pet insurance." You can even use it along with pet insurance for extra savings. You just present the card at the time of your vet visit and they deduct the 25% off of your bill right then & there! It's a discount card, not insurance or credit card. Read more about it: www.petassure.com.

[ginnyinWI]

12. I had a dental discount card for my mom like that.

Her dentist was on the plan so when it came time to pay the bill, they just took 15% off the top. Better than having no insurance at all. Now she has a rider on her Medicare Advantage to cover dental, eyeglasses and hearing aids so I don't need it anymore. The dental discount plan cost something like $95 a year, and when you have root canals and extractions it really helps.

[Myrina]

7. Yes, do look into it.

If you have active or illness prone pets, do consider insurance.

My Cattle Dog Hank was a crazy ninja in his early years & racked up thousands of dollars in med bills.
One incident alone (he got hit by a car & broke his back leg) cost nearly $1800. All I had to do was submit my reciepts to the insurance co & was reimbursed for everything, less the $75 deductible.

The plan you're considering doesn't sound particularly advantageous - make sure just like anything else, you look at all of the carriers & coverage options to see which will work best for you and your pets.

[ginnyinWI]

13. what insurance company do you use?

It looks like they have one deductible per illness or accident. Is that better than a big yearly deductible do you think?

[Myrina]

19. I had coverage with VPI

www.petinsurance.com

The deductible was per-incident, and it did work out better for me, expense wise.
Now that my Hank is 13, they won't cover him anymore.
Bubba Ray has crossed the Bridge but they stopped covering him when he turned 10, also.

If I recall, they had options for different sorts of coverage and I only had 'emergency care' due to Hank's extreme sports tendencies - not the entire wellness, emergency and 'old age'/euth/cremation provisions that they also offer.

Look around, and good luck!!

[ginnyinWI]

22. thanks.

I may keep looking around, for future reference. In my experience a cat usually has no more than one illness at a time--and once in a while at that. So a per-incident deductible sounds cheaper.

[Coyote_Bandit]

8. Don't Bother

Every month I set aside the $$$ I would otherwise pay for good comprehensive pet insurance. I have done that over the lifetime of 3 dogs over a nearly 20 year period.

The funds I have set aside have been more than adequate to care for those dogs. And that includes one special little dog that has had kidney disease for over a decade. He was uninsurable at 5 months of age and I had no other choice to fund his care.

One of the big advantages of funding veterinary care in this manner is that you will always be able to choose the vet that provides care for your animals and you will not be restricted to approved providers.

[ginnyinWI]

14. that sounds very sensible.

Fund your own insurance. If I had been doing that for the five years I've had this cat (she is 10 years old), I would have a chunk of change by now.

Finding the money is one thing, and then the other is deciding what is reasonable and what is treatment or tests that aren't worth it.

[KathyS]

9. There are options!

Glad you mentioned Pet Assure. They're great if you can find a vet close to you! They are all over the US, so if you're having trouble locating a vet in your area, I know you can refer a vet to them. Not only do you get that 25% discount for every visit, but there are merchant discounts for meds & stuff that can be up to 50% off. The very low monthly cost, is worth that!

[ginnyinWI]

15. seems a better option

My two cats would cost $45 a month to insure, and then I'd still be responsible for the first $1000 of their combined care.


Or look at it this way:
Last year cat #1 had $1135 in bills. But cat#2 had $217. That's a total of 1352. With insurance, it would have been premiums of $540 for the two of them, plus the $217 for cat #2, $500 deductible on cat#1, plus 20% of the remaining bill for a total of $1384. As it was, I spent $1352. I came out ahead of where I would have been with the insurance!

Maybe with another plan it would have worked better, I don't know. I do think Pet Assure would be good if I could get it for a vet somewhere near here. Do you think the better vets would use it? Or is it only for the ones who want more business?

[undeterred]

16. I have VPI insurance for my dog.

I started when he was 6 months old. But there is no annual deductible - if there were a $500 deductible I would not do it. There is a $50 deductible per event. I pay $36 per month and he is almost 5 years old.

The thing is - my last dog had cancer, two leg surgeries, arthritis, and bloat twice. I spent a fortune out of pocket on him and he lived to be almost 16. My current dog is incredibly healthy and athletic. But vet visits can be incredibly expensive - he stopped eating for a couple days in November and a full workup cost $540. So I am glad I have the insurance because I never hesitate to take him in when he's sick - the insurance will give me some of that back.

The insurance is a kitty jar, if its the right insurance.

Edit: The vet is not part of it - I pay the bills and submit the receipts to the insurance company. So I can take him anywhere.

[IrishAyes]

17. Every financial expert I've ever heard

... speaks against buying pet insurance on a purely financial basis. I never had it because I felt the expense could better be lavished on my dogs themselves, even when they got old and creaky. But then I'm a fair bush medic in the first place, and can do all kinds of emergency care up to and including ceasarians.

Not everyone has those skills, plus a sickly or vulnerable animal naturally will need more care than a sturdier one. So the only thing I can say is that it's a tossup and depends on the situation. Just remember that pet insurance companies are even more notorious for dodging benefits than the companies that supposedly insure us.

I deeply admire people who are willing to take on an animal that's already sick and/or badly injured, knowing it's likely to cost them a mint. I wouldn't in a million years; not because I don't care, but because I have very limited funds and most of that goes to keeping the dogs I already have in top shape. By the time my last chows were 13, they started developing progressive paralysis and the vet recommended putting them down because it was incurable. But through heavy efforts on my own, I kept them on their feet and happy for another 3 years. The last 6 months I had to lift those 70-lb dogs up front and back to accomplish it and then lead a slow yard walk 6 times around the perimeter of the house 6 times a day, and it almost ruined my back - but it was worth it. They never went off their feed.

But facing huge medical bills is another thing entirely. For dogs I already loved, I would. In your case, you're the only rightful judge of what to do.

[ginnyinWI]

18. I think old age is a different case than with a younger animal

And this is one way I'm justifying it.

I had a 17 year old cat with kidney failure and spent maybe $700 during his last few months, which I don't think he particularly enjoyed, and maybe should have had him put down a few months earlier. Kidney disease puts a cat in a kind of a mental fog anyway.

This cat is 10 and otherwise well. Blood tests came back normal, no underlying disease or anything. It's a 50-50 chance that they can find something treatable, so I'm going to enquire. Hopefully they can do this in stages and only resort to the really expensive stuff (a scan) as a last resort. A sore that doesn't heal can be either a foreign body that got in there, into her sinuses in this case, or else it could be a slow growing cancer.