Dog Health Insurance recommendation?

[Ceerix]

Hello,

now that I have a dog , I'm looking for dog health insurance.

I well, Google is your friend "LMGTFY" ;-) BUT there are only company sites and sites that are paid to write "something".
They are NOT trustworthy.
And if you read through the reviews on e.g. Trustpilot (Trustpilot is a scam by the way, I know that from personal experience), you can see that most of the reviews there are fake.
The ones that aren't fake usually only have one star :-0


My question: what dog insurance do you have and would you recommend it?

Last week we had our first vet visit and I was shocked at the price of the examination.

 

[CADUCKHUNTER]

I’ve found Trupanion to be very stable with their pricing as your dog ages. I had pet plan who became fetch they raised their prices 3 times in 1.5 years

 

[Hunterman]

You got to read the fine print. A few years ago I was looking into it and read a lot. What one company covers another might not. Sort of like car insurance. In the end I decided against doggie insurance but that’s just me

 

[Ceerix]

Hello CADUCKHUNTER,

Thank you for your reply.

But my first request for a quote is already disillusioning.

Twice as expensive as all the other insurance companies I got a quote from.

/EDIT: OK, now I saw WHY it's so expensive: "Unlimited payouts, no deductibles - ever!"
This is the first dog insurance I see without any deductibles. The most other have $500 deductibles and very often limited payouts.

 

[Optimus]

Try Obamacare.

 

[Ceerix]

You got to read the fine print. A few years ago I was looking into it and read a lot. What one company covers another might not. Sort of like car insurance. In the end I decided against doggie insurance but that’s just me

Yes, you are right. For this reason I asked the question in this forum.

Insurances in the US always extremely complicated. Every company has his own rules, own weird rules.
I assume there is a reason for this. Nobody can really compare or understand 100%.

In other countries, where is more regulated, is much easier to compare.

My dog is too important for me

 

[Ceerix]

Try Obamacare.

Boots?

I am sure this is the answer from ChatGPT

Today I was first time on an AI Internet Page for Jobs.... sorry, but what a BS.

Answer from the AI: "Oops, We're sorry, Unathutorized or Bad Request Error!!!"

Unathutorized ...? IF an AI is not able to write this word Unauthorized correct... sorry, garbage!

Anything else didn't work correctly.

 

[ccw]

I used Embrace - GEICO partners with them - for my cat’s insurance.

While I don’t know if my experience would carry over to a dog, I was impressed with them with my cat. Their price seemed reasonable and the coverage was fantastic when my cat, unfortunately, had to go through exploratory surgery and afterwards be put down (cancer).

For context, total cost of all procedures relating to the cancer cost over $8000, and I was out of pocket a bit over $1000.

Whatever insurance you go with, be sure to complete whatever possible medical history review in advance. I didn’t do that with my cat and had to make the choice to go forward with the surgery not knowing 100% for sure that it would be covered, as it could take up to a month for them to do the review. That period of not knowing sucked.

 

[Ceerix]

I used Embrace - GEICO partners with them - for my cat’s insurance.

While I don’t know if my experience would carry over to a dog, I was impressed with them with my cat. Their price seemed reasonable and the coverage was fantastic when my cat, unfortunately, had to go through exploratory surgery and afterwards be put down (cancer).

For context, total cost of all procedures relating to the cancer cost over $8000, and I was out of pocket a bit over $1000.

Whatever insurance you go with, be sure to complete whatever possible medical history review in advance. I didn’t do that with my cat and had to make the choice to go forward with the surgery not knowing 100% for sure that it would be covered, as it could take up to a month for them to do the review. That period of not knowing sucked.

Hello,

I have already checked Embrace. This is a company with no email (or the email is hidden) on their contact page.

AND they already know they have a higher call volume and they inform you BUT they don't change anything so you don't have to wait long when you call them.
I hate companies without email addresses because they can tell you what they want on the phone, but you have no proof later.

It's also an American 'thing' that companies don't email anymore. In my opinion, that's criminal.

Even if you think something is covered, insurance companies often won't pay because they know a lawyer will cost more money.

On Trustpilot, the 5 star reviews very often look like fakes and the 1 star ones look like the real thing.

Embrace is a No-Go for me... BUT thanks for your response!!

 

[Grabber]

I have Nationwide, very happy with them.

 

[Lunch Box]

Hello,

I have already checked Embrace. This is a company with no email (or the email is hidden) on their contact page.

AND they already know they have a higher call volume and they inform you BUT they don't change anything so you don't have to wait long when you call them.
I hate companies without email addresses because they can tell you what they want on the phone, but you have no proof later.

It's also an American 'thing' that companies don't email anymore. In my opinion, that's criminal.

Even if you think something is covered, insurance companies often won't pay because they know a lawyer will cost more money.

On Trustpilot, the 5 star reviews very often look like fakes and the 1 star ones look like the real thing.

Embrace is a No-Go for me... BUT thanks for your response!!

I too have embrace, have had no issues. The policy they send you is very clear. The issue I have is not with Embrace, it's the vets who won't file your insurance like human doctors will.

 

[Modman]

Admittedly, I haven't checked policies/prices in quite some time but long ago decided that it wasn't worth it - in the long run - for me. Yes, I have had dogs with issues, but also many with no issues.

I liken it to any other voluntary insurance. Are you betting on your pet having an issue (you benefit) or not having an issue (insurance company benefits)? Want to guess who is on the winning side more often??

We have had lengthy discussions on extended warranties for our vehicles and it is much the same logic. Just like with those, there probably is a "middle ground" policy for pet insurance that makes sense so look at at all the options. For me, I don't think I'm on the losing end after 30+ years of pet ownership, including several dogs with cancer.

Other factors are in play as well. Peace of mind, as long as the insurance is affordable for you, and reducing the potential hassle/headache of dealing with a third party (insurance) during times of stress, as long as you can afford vet costs.

 

[Vermonster]

I have trupanion. They email me too often.

 

[RedZilla]

If you go to an old school vet you won't need insurance. A lot of older vets are leaving the practice because of the direction the profession is heading, mostly due to pressure from big pharma and their influence over the vet schools. Now the insurance companies are jumping into the same game. If you go to a modern pet clinic (corporate owned) they will have you on a regular rotation either monthly or quarterly, running tests, prescribing their favorite food brand, vaccinating for everything under the sun, etc. And they'll gladly hand you information on their preferred insurance providers. Canine Diabetes was unheard-of 30 years ago. Now they are prescribing injectable insulin at nearly the same percentage for dogs as they are for humans. Totally preventable.

The old way was to only treat for a real sickness, never over vaccinate, and emphasize and educate owners on proper health through high quality food and regular activity. Dental health and proper weight are the two biggest keys to pet health. If you can't feel your dog's ribs when you run your hands down their sides, they are over weight. An overweight dog is a sick dog.

I worked for an old school vet for ten years. He's beside himself for the direction the profession has gone. You ask him today and he will tell you that puppy vacs are good for the life of the dog just like human vaccines used to be also. Titer tests prove this to be factual.

I've owned countless dogs for nearly sixty years. Take care of your dog and you'll be money ahead without insurance. But if it makes you feel good.........

 

[DTX2023Tremor]

We have Fetch... They've been great to work with and we previously had a dog with epilepsy and they covered everything (probably paid about $3k in premiums over 2 years and incurred about $40k in expenses) without any headaches. I do have their top level of coverage and I think it's about $1,700 a year for each of our dogs.

I don't recommend their "Wellness" insurance plan. Signed up for it and found out that I'll spend $750 for the year and only get about $500 back in benefit. Instead, get Petco's program. A year costs about $250 and you get 10% off food, $20 each time you go to the vet (for any reason), and a whole host of other benefits. Based on how we'll be using it, I expect it will pay for itself and then some.

 

[DTX2023Tremor]

If you go to an old school vet you won't need insurance. A lot of older vets are leaving the practice because of the direction the profession is heading, mostly due to pressure from big pharma and their influence over the vet schools. Now the insurance companies are jumping into the same game. If you go to a modern pet clinic (corporate owned) they will have you on a regular rotation either monthly or quarterly, running tests, prescribing their favorite food brand, vaccinating for everything under the sun, etc. And they'll gladly hand you information on their preferred insurance providers. Canine Diabetes was unheard-of 30 years ago. Now they are prescribing injectable insulin at nearly the same percentage for dogs as they are for humans. Totally preventable.

The old way was to only treat for a real sickness, never over vaccinate, and emphasize and educate owners on proper health through high quality food and regular activity. Dental health and proper weight are the two biggest keys to pet health. If you can't feel your dog's ribs when you run your hands down their sides, they are over weight. An overweight dog is a sick dog.

I worked for an old school vet for ten years. He's beside himself for the direction the profession has gone. You ask him today and he will tell you that puppy vacs are good for the life of the dog just like human vaccines used to be also. Titer tests prove this to be factual.

I've owned countless dogs for nearly sixty years. Take care of your dog and you'll be money ahead without insurance. But if it makes you feel good.........

I think there's an exception to your good advice... If you have a pet with a chronic condition, pet insurance saves you a lot of money over the life of the pet. I had a dog that we incurred $40k in vet bills due to epilepsy over 2 years... Wouldn't have tried as hard to treat the dog if we didn't have insurance, but we wanted to give him every chance at a life before we made the tough call to put him down.

I have a 5 year old GSD that has osteoarthritis in both shoulders... Managing the condition for the 7 - 10 years he has left will also be costly and it is great that I can explore novel treatment options without worrying about the expense.

For a healthy pet, I completely agree that you can take the annual premium and save it and likely not spend anywhere near that much on healthcare at the end of the pet's life when they're likely to incur more expenses.

It's a gamble though... We didn't know that two of our dogs would have chronic issues and our 6 year old GSD has had 2 TPLO surgeries (also not cheap). Maybe we're unlucky in that aspect, but we've decided to err on the side of caution and spend the money on insurance to minimize the impact these bigger issues can cost. The caveats here is that you have to get the insurance before the chronic condition is diagnosed or it will be excluded as a pre-existing condition.

 

[pickleknuckles]

We use Care Credit for the dogs. It's totally predatory if you run it out past term, but each charge for things I didn't want to swing out of pocket came w up to 18mo at 0%. I found that supporting our previous dog thru cancer treatments, both immediate and ongoing for 5-6yrs, totally manageable. My buddy on the other hand who has pet insurance maxed it out pretty quick on similar costs and now has to pay about $2k/yr for ongoing immunotherapy.

My wife was even able to use it for a LANAP surgery too. That was about $10k and I think she got 20mo at 0% or something.
It even builds your credit standing when used like any other credit repayment.

 

[Ceerix]

Thanks everybody for your response!!!

 

[Chris-DTA]

I have Healthy Paws for my dog. $500 annual deductible. Had to use them once and overall it was good experience. Not straight forward, but I expected some initial complexity. My dog had to have 7 teeth removed and they wanted the entire health history. My other vet went out of business years ago and so I could not provide it, but I pointed out that my dog had been healthy and I never had to use the insurance before and then it was all good from there.

 

[Lunch Box]

I have Healthy Paws for my dog. $500 annual deductible. Had to use them once and overall it was good experience. Not straight forward, but I expected some initial complexity. My dog had to have 7 teeth removed and they wanted the entire health history. My other vet went out of business years ago and so I could not provide it, but I pointed out that my dog had been healthy and I never had to use the insurance before and then it was all good from there.

What's your monthly pymt?