Pet Insurance
There are increasing numbers of companies offering pet insurance for animal guardians. Just as in people the rising cost of health care in veterinary medicine has many people exploring options for pet insurance to help offset the cost. Unlike the human side, veterinarians are usually not involved directly with the process. This is because vets typically don’t contact the companies to check on coverage or bill the insurance companies directly, as is often done in human medicine.
The decision as to whether to buy pet insurance involves a careful weighing of pros and cons of the additional costs to a household budget. Premiums are most commonly paid monthly by pet guardians and are paid directly to the company. Most pet health insurance companies will cover veterinary costs for diagnostic tests, surgery, treatments and medication should your pet get sick or injured. Most companies will also provide for preventive care including vaccinations and heartworm blood testing, but these options may increase the cost of the premium for the animal guardian.
Thus, various companies will have different deductibles, maximum amount paid out, and pre-existing condition terms, which all need to be examined when shopping around for pet insurance. Congenital conditions that pets are born with such as patella locations, hip dysplasis, entropion, and liver shunts may not be covered by many insurance companies. Continuous life time coverage is also important for animal guardians, so that chronic disease like diabetes or cancer will remain covered throughout a pet’s life.
Petplan Pet Insurance, VPI, ASPCA, and Banfield are a few pet insurances companies.
Until next time,
Submitted by Maralyn Fink