Should I buy health insurance for my pets?

Q: Should I buy health insurance for my pets?

A: Almost anything possible in human medicine is available for your pets, too. However, these modern diagnostics and advanced therapies can be quite expensive. Care for a sick pet can easily cost thousands of dollars. Health insurance is one way to be sure you can provide the best care for your pets when they are ill or injured.

The expected lifespan of most dogs and cats is between ten and fifteen years. This means that the odds of a major illness in the next ten years are generally higher for your pet than for the two-legged members of your family. However, veterinary bills are much smaller than human medical bills. Veterinary medicine is still healthcare’s best bargain. Surgical resection of an abdominal tumor may be $2,000 for a dog and $100,000 for a person. Before looking at specific policies, consider both the high likelihood of a future need and the relatively low magnitude of the expected costs.

While there are many policies with different benefit schedules, most veterinary insurance will cost around $30-$60 a month. When your pet is sick or injured, most policies will reimburse you about 80% of what you pay to a veterinarian up to a maximum allowable amount per claim. Many also require payment of a deductible before the insurance starts.

I have often thought it would be better for most pet owners to set aside that $60 a month in a savings account for pet health needs. Over the course of a pet’s lifetime that money would usually pay for any sick care required.  However, this method requires more financial disciple and retains some degree of risk. If a bill of $10,000 or less would not place catastrophic strain on your family or if you are disciplined enough to regularly save for your pet’s future care, then pet insurance is probably not necessary.

Over the years, my opinion of pet health insurance has gone from hesitant to neutral to favorable. The change is based on discussions in my exam room. For example, I have had countless twelve year old cats with serious, but treatable, medical conditions.  After the diagnosis an owner frequently starts with, “well, she’s getting up there in age.” (Keep in mind that a 12 year old cat is roughly the equivalent age of a 58 year old person.) The owner may move to, “I don’t know if it’s fair to put her through the treatment at this point in her life.” And there’s always the popular, “I can’t afford this right now. Can we do something less just to keep her comfortable.”

I have been amazed by the same conversation with owners that have purchased health insurance. Suddenly the discussion centers around treatment options, probability of success, and risks or benefits to the pet. Twelve seems to be a lot younger when there is an insurance policy paying the bills. Basic medical procedures that others rationalize as “too much” are magically transformed into the routine procedures that they are considered in human medical care.

These conversations have convinced me that veterinary health insurance is frequently in the best interest of the pet. Since my job is to advocate for pets, I have become more enthusiastic of the policies. However, any investment should be purchased only after careful research.

I once had a very sick puppy with severe parvovirus. He required a week in the hospital, IV fluids, a blood transfusion, daily laboratory tests, and multiple medications. The owners were relieved that they had purchased the insurance coverage advocated by the animal shelter. They authorized all treatments. The bills totaled over $2,000, but Rex recovered fully and everyone was thrilled. The joy ended when their insurance company only paid $500 of the claim.

To avoid a similar scenario, read all the policy information carefully. Examine the maximum benefit schedule for different illnesses. Does it look reasonable? How does the policy treat breed related conditions? Some policies exclude many common conditions if they are considered breed predispositions. Is the “wellness care” rider really worth the extra cost? How likely is the company to stay in business for the life of your pet? Changing companies usually means permanently excluding pre-existing conditions. Finally, what is your veterinarian’s opinion of the insurance company?

Dr. Watts is a companion animal general practitioner and owner of Clevengers Corner Veterinary Care. He can be reached through ClevengersCorner.com or by calling 428-1000.