Insurance for your pet is real, and it's affordable.
What is Pet Insurance?
Simply put, it is a health insurance policy for your pet. The policy will cover a wide variety of unforeseen injuries or illnesses that are explained in the last section of this post. Currently, you are able to purchase a pet insurance policy for either your dog or your cat. If you have both, then you could purchase a policy for each. Being that most injuries or illnesses are unforeseen a pet insurance policy will give you the peace of mind that you will not be financially burdened were something to happen to your pet.
How Does it Work?
Let’s say you purchase a pet insurance policy today. These policies are fairly customizable, so the next step will be choosing the plan that is the best financial fit for you. This process will require you to choose from a few different coverage plans. Plan A may pay out up to, but no more than $10,000 a year, while plan B will pay out a little more, and plan C will pay more than plan B. After picking the plan with the amount of annual coverage you would like, you would then select what you would want your deductible to be and what percentage of reimbursement from the insurance company you would like. For example, If you opt for the lowest possible deductible with 100% reimbursement than the overall cost for your policy will increase.
After you have chosen your options and purchased the policy, most companies will require a waiting period before you will be eligible for coverage. The length of the waiting period can vary from company to company, but most are around 14 days. This is to prevent people that have an already sick/injured pet that will require immediate attention from signing up and immediately receiving coverage. A case such as that would not be defined as “unforeseen” because the owner had prior knowledge of the sickness or injury.
So, you have now purchased the policy that fits you best and been through the waiting period without your pet having any illness or injury. Let’s say a year or 2 down the road an unforeseen accident occurs. You would then take your pet to the licensed veterinarian of your choosing, pay the bill, and your deductible, and the company will reimburse you up to the percentage that you chose on your policy. If the surgery was $4,000, and you chose plan A that covered a max of $10,000 a year, you would have $6,000 of coverage left for the remainder of the year.
What is Covered?
What is covered in the policy can vary from company to company. Some companies may cover only surgeries on plan A, while plan C will cover anything from surgeries, to prescriptions, x-rays, MRI’s, prosthetics, orthopedics, cancer, specialists, treatments, and so much more.
It’s almost easier to list out what’s NOT covered by most policies. That would include items such as pre-existing conditions, pregnancy, preventative care, neutering, cosmetic surgery, experimental surgery, and there are much more than you would need to be aware of after you purchased a policy.
If you say your pet is family, then pet insurance is the perfect way to show it.
Thanks for reading,
-Harrison Horton