Practicality of pet health insurance

[irotas]

Hi folks,

My wife and I rescued a 4 y/o labrador retriever named Manni back in July. This is our first dog as adults, so there's a lot we're learning as we go.

One thing that we've been discussing for a while is getting health insurance for Manni. It seems that VPI is by far the most popular provider on these forums, so I took a closer look at their services.

At first glance, their monthly rates seem quite reasonable; roughly $10-30/mo depending on what plan and options you choose. However, I looked at the benefits schedule for both the Standard and Superior plan, and was shocked at the per-term allowances.

I've read many stories on this forum where people have spent $1000-3000 on health care expenses after some illness or accident. Anesthesia alone is probably several hundred to more than a thousand dollars. VPI's annual anesthesia allowance is roughly $50-90/term on the Standard plan, and roughly $80-120/term on the Superior plan.

Unless I'm reading this benefits schedule wrong, if something happened to Manni and his medical bills reached $3000, I'd pay the $50 deductible, then VPI would pitch in a couple hundred dollars, and I'd end up paying the rest ($2000+) myself anyway.

As for their optional routine care coverage, their per-term allowance is almost a joke. $10/yr for office consultation? $10/yr for a physical?

Also, VPI (apparently) will raise your premiums after just 3-4 claims. So the allowance is quite limited when you do file a claim, and the premium goes up at the same time? This seems almost criminal to me.

Maybe I'm overly cynical here, but I'm having real doubts as to the real practicality of getting health insurance for Manni. Even if he did get into an accident or got sick, VPI (seemingly) would not be terribly helpful in covering the expenses.

I've read some other folks saying that they set aside money in a savings account for pet health expenses. I'm wondering what people's real experiences are with both approaches.

Thanks,
Adam

 

[Delisay]

Adam, good on you for reading the small print. It sounds as if this company is relying on most people not reading it, so that they can sell a useless non-insuring 'insurance' product. I hope that I'm wrong and someone will correct me, but it sure appears that way.

Putting your own money aside sounds like a good idea - like having a bank account for one of your kids . Once it reaches a certain comfort level, what you don't spend (hopefully all of it!) you can draw on, like a savings account. Certainly until you find a viable insurer it's wise to do that.

Del.

 

[moxiegrl]

Using the VPI Superior Plan
The VPI Superior Plan functions as indemnity insurance. We restore financial loss within the limits of the policy in case of an unforeseen event. All you do is:
Simply meet the $50 deductible.
Submit a signed claimed form.
The VPI Superior Plan policy pays up to 90% of the Benefit Schedule, or up to 90% of the veterinary bill, whichever is lower (after deductible). This allows for a maximum benefit of $4,500 per accident or illness and a maximum benefit of $14,000 per policy term. And benefits coverage renews each year. There is no lifetime cap. Get a free quote or enroll your pet today.



VPI Superior Plan
Sample Benefit Schedule
Diagnostic Code
Condition
VPI Superior Plan
Reimbursement

1222
Gastritis
$357

12224
Gastric Torsion
$1,993

1243
Intestinal Foreign
Body (Surgical)
$1,363

1290
Liver Disease
$409

1303
Lacerations
$501

1306
Abscess
$378

1447
Pneumonia
$588

1802
Bladder Infection
$270

2019
Feline Leukemia
/ FIV Virus Infection
$519


*These are just a sample of the many VPI benefits. For a complete list of conditions view the VPI Superior Plan Benefit Schedule.

When I looked at VPI this is what I found....I didnt see where it was the stuff you were talking about. Can you post a link b/c I too had looked into VPI and liked what I read.

 

[irotas]

When I looked at VPI this is what I found....I didnt see where it was the stuff you were talking about. Can you post a link b/c I too had looked into VPI and liked what I read.

Hi moxiegrl,

What you posted is their "Sample Benefit Schedule". It is basically the plan highlights. Unfortunately the allowances you see in the sample schedule are not representative of the plan in general.

Here's the benefit schedules:
Superior Plan: http://www.petinsurance.com/downloads/Superior-Ben-Sched-2005.pdf
Standard Plan: http://www.petinsurance.com/downloads/Standard-Ben-Sched-2005.pdf

 

[Bobsk8]

I joined VPI and they have some standard rates that they reimburse for different procedures just like Medical Insurance and dental Insurance for people. Normal and customary charges is usally what it is called. I have the standard plan which is $135 and here is a link to the benefits that they cover. Nothing like what the Original poster is claiming.. I wouldn't be without pet insurance. I spent an afternoon in an Emergency Vet Clinic a couple of months ago and charges of over $1000 were quite common.....


http://www.petinsurance.com/downloads/Standard-Ben-Sched-2005.pdf

 

[irotas]

I joined VPI and they have some standard rates that they reimburse for different procedures just like Medical Insurance and dental Insurance for people. Normal and customary charges is usally what it is called. I have the standard plan which is $135 and here is a link to the benefits that they cover. Nothing like what the Original poster is claiming.. I wouldn't be without pet insurance. I spent an afternoon in an Emergency Vet Clinic a couple of months ago and charges of over $1000 were quite common.....

Hi Bob,

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

I have a couple points regarding your post:

1) Most human health insurance policies don't require the customer to pay the costs up front and then submit a claim. With VPI, the onus is on you to fork out the cost of health care and then submit a claim and wait for reimbursement.


2) That benefit schedule you posted (which is the same one that I posted) certainly does cover a wide variety of medical conditions. However, that is not what I was complaining about. The point I was making is that the allowances are quite small, and probably don't cover nearly the full cost of even a single medical emergency.

You mentioned that you spent an afternoon in an Emergency Vet Clinic and the costs were routinely over $1000. However, if you look closely at the VPI benefit schedules, you'll notice the allowances are so nominal that I doubt they'd cover a $1000 medical emergency.


Thanks,
Adam

 

[FoxyWench]

my parents used to have health insurance on their cocker, but even without a claim their premium doubled after 6 months so they droped it.
instead what i did is i looked through all the pet insurances figured the average monthly cost and put that amount for each dog in a high yeild savings account instead of paying it to a second company.
when vixie had her c-section/spay the money in that account paid for the c-section plus after care and her shots, and theres enough for dodgers shots too!

I found pet insurance too restrictive so this was the best option for me! it was free to open the account and i just have to keep $50 in there to keep it open, so what i do when i did the origional balance i took the $50 off the number so that i knew i couldnt spend it...if its not in my check book balance its not realy there in my mind so i never spend that $50...

I think its more about finding an option that works for you.

 

[irotas]

my parents used to have health insurance on their cocker, but even without a claim their premium doubled after 6 months so they droped it.

Hi FoxyWench,

Do you by chance know what provider your parents used?

Thanks,
Adam

 

[suenez]

I hate to put a damper on things, but I would totally recommend pet insurance, and wish I had taken it months ago! I'm not sure about VPI (although my parents have it for their shepard), but I never got insurance for Cooper, and over the last two months alone I've spent over $4,000!!!! I wish I had insurance, and the woman at the hospital said that there are many out there (pet insurance companies), that would reimburse up to 80%. Cooper was adopted (could've had pre-existing conditions I wasn't aware of), but I would recommend pet insurance for anyone. I only had him since February, so even saving the pet insurance premium each month in a high yield account would never have provided me all the money that I needed, and will need in the future. I guess the way I look at it is any money back from the $4,000 would've been better than nothing at all!

 

[irotas]

I hate to put a damper on things, but I would totally recommend pet insurance, and wish I had taken it months ago! I'm not sure about VPI (although my parents have it for their shepard), but I never got insurance for Cooper, and over the last two months alone I've spent over $4,000!!!!

Hi suenez,

Could you by chance take a look at the VPI benefits schedule and see exactly how much VPI *would have* covered if you had insurance through them before you incurred all these expenses?

I understand that $4000 is a huge medical bill, and I think VPI would cover 90% of the expense, but *only* up to their stated allowance(s).

My main question at the start of this thread was not whether or not pet health insurance is expensive (it is), but whether or not the insurance allowances were practical with respect to actual cost of health care expenses.

Thanks,
Adam