Pet insurance is getting more and more popular, as vets insisting upon payment at the time of treatment has become standard practice. Anyone who loves their pet is genuinely terrified of a moment when the choice must be made between that month’s rent or saving a beloved pet’s life in the wake of a terrible, newly diagnosed health threat.
Contents
Things To Consider
If your pet is older or has a pre-existing illness, premiums can run up to $50 per month or more. If you think you have enough savings or financial padding to weather a healthcare crisis with your pet, you need to decide if the cost of a high premium is worth it.
Understand that even with insurance, you will have to pay upfront for medical care, and the insurance will reimburse you a certain amount after you file a claim. This is a very important detail that needs to be clear to pet owners. You should have some kind of emergency fund set up whether or not you have pet insurance because you will pay for the care upfront, and be reimbursed for that care for a percentage of your cost by the insurance, depending on your plan.
That said, new pets, young pets, and healthy pets might have a very reasonable premium. A lot of the decisions that need to be made about pet healthcare insurance should be made considering the age and health of your pets.
Insurance Can Make Your Pet’s Quality of Life Better
The savings that are gotten with health insurance for pets might be minimal if your pet is healthy and you only take them in for minimal care. The thing about this, though, is that your insurance might cover things like dental, or other services that you could not afford to give to your pet, to improve their quality of life.
If your new insurer can provide discounts or cover the majority of the cost of things like preventative care, your pet could lead a healthier, happier life. There are some insurers who are offering a quality of life services to make your pet insurance more of a bargain for you, and your pet’s care more holistic and complete.
Pumpkin pet insurance is a newcomer, for instance, but offers its insured pets unique options. If you have a multi-pet household, a 10 percent discount can be applied, for each additional pet. Microchip implants are covered, which is unusual for pet insurance; the same can be said for behavioral therapy and alternative therapies. An optional preventative care package allows coverage of vaccinations and wellness exams. All of this quality of life options can make the insurance you are getting for your pet stretch far beyond just emergent visits or bare-bones physical exams.
An optional plan for accident & illness coverage that they offer gets you more bang for your buck if your pet does go through an emergent traumatic accident or life-threatening illness. By covering diagnostics like CT scans and MRIs, as well as the cost of surgery, hospital care, or expensive prescription drug coverage, the most expensive services that might be needed are addressed in the health care package.
These exact critical care services are the expenses that most owners worry about the most, because if their pet is injured or ill to the degree of needing that level of care, it could mean in normal circumstances that they could very well not be able to pay for it.
Shop Around
Although veterinary insurance is often presented as being much more simple than health care insurance for people, there are quite a few caveats that make certain aspects of it not everything it appears to be. By doing your research, and thinking hard about what you want for your pet, and what you can and cannot afford, you should be able to find a plan that eases your mind and also helps your pet out when they most need it.
After all, your pets give you so much joy and happiness. It seems only fair that when they need some help, that it can be provided for them.
