[Wylie's Mom]

Additional Considerations

Ask if prescribed medications are covered under the policy you are considering. For example, Embrace will only cover take home medications if you purchase their Drug & Dental plan.

You should check and see if a pre-authorization is needed for treatment that may lead to substantial veterinary fees or if pre-certification is needed for certain types of procedures such as MRI or CT scan.

If your pet is diagnosed with a condition that could lead to other medical problems – such as hyperthyroidism – your policy may not cover kidney, heart and high blood pressure problems if hyperthyroidism is considered to be a pre-existing condition. This gets complicated, but it’s a good question to amuse policy writers and expose less scrupulous insurance carriers!

Understand the policy you are purchasing. For example, Petplan offers benefits for boarding and kennel fees (for an additional cost) under their Silver and Gold plans. However, these fees are reimbursed at reasonable costs up to the maximum annual benefit only if you are in the hospital as a result of sickness, disease, or bodily injury – not when you’re away singing: It’s 5 o’clock somewhere!

And lastly, here are some important points to consider. Classic pet health insurance is intended to protect you from expensive unexpected pet illness and injuries. Don’t purchase it hoping to get your money back – do you buy car insurance and hope to get into an accident so your insurance company can foot the bill? Of course not! If your pet did not become seriously ill or injured in any policy year – be happy and know that someone else was not so lucky. Also, realize that providing good health insurance coverage would not be possible without a sizeable number of loyal policy holders making a large pool of funds available.

So, the payment you make next month might just help pay for the $5,000 medical bill for the naughty pup that ate his owner’s underwear and requires emergency surgery with post-op care in ICU for a life threatening intestinal obstruction. Be glad it wasn’t your pup and rest assured that if the worse happens, you too won’t bear the financial burden – in addition to a sleepless night.

As a safety net, the pet insurance industry has evolved over time to meet the needs of worried pet owners afraid that they might not be able to afford costly medical care or surgery. More often than not, we witness the difficult financial struggle our devoted clients must undertake in order to follow our best care recommendations. We hate to watch you fret when you mention that you have kids in college, the car needs repair, or there has been a job loss in the family.

No pet lover should ever have to say no to treatment that could be life saving or prevent needless suffering. The cost of monthly pet insurance could be as little as two movie tickets and a heaping bag overflowing with popcorn! Skip the pricy movie theater to watch a home movie snuggled up with your favorite hunk of fur and pop your own corn for pennies. We know your pet is worth that small sacrifice and so much more!