One of the most disheartening things a pet owner can hear that their pet is not covered by their pet insurance. Pet insurance is not much different than human health insurance. There are many plans, benefits, and deductibles that go into account. If you’re thinking of investing in a pet insurance plan, you’ll want to know what you’re getting and what you aren’t for the given rate.
Hereditary and Breed Specific Conditions
Many insurance companies choose not to pay for hereditary conditions. Elbow dysplasia and abnormal joint conditions for example are hereditary conditions for golden retrievers. If you had a plan that didn’t cover this, and one day your dog was diagnosed with these problems, you would be paying out of pocket for the treatment.
Although insurance companies don’t generally cover hereditary conditions they have special plans that do. These plans for hereditary conditions are more expensive, and require just as much research.
Predisposed Conditions
Predisposed conditions are basically the same thing as hereditary conditions. However different plans and companies may refer to them as different things. For example some cancers in German shepherds are predisposed conditions, while some are not. Making sure that your pet is covered under all conditions is a crucial to ensuring that they are properly covered.
Preexisting Conditions
Preexisting conditions are conditions that your pet had before an insurance company started covering them. Most companies do not cover preexisting conditions. In fact, once a claim is submitted, insurance companies go back and investigate their medical history. So if you’re hoping to cover a medical problem your pet has already been diagnosed with then you’re most likely out of luck.
Don’t Look at the Prices
When pet owners seek to cover their pets medically they will often look at the price of the plans, and choose the cheapest ones. However this is the wrong approach to insuring pets, or humans for that matter. The most important choice in insurance decisions is the features and benefits that each company or plan can offer. Choosing the cheapest company may mean denied claims, lack of coverage, or minimal reimbursements on your pet’s future medical treatments. Many times a more expensive plan will save you money in the long run. As a pet owner, you’ll have to weight the costs and benefits of each plan to figure out the economically responsible plan that is perfect for your unique situation.
The Best Pet Insurance Companies Around
There are sites out there like our reviews that are unbiased reviews of many pet insurance companies out there. To sum it all up: Pets Best, Petplan, PurinaCare, and Trupanion are some of the best companies out there when it comes to pet insurance.
Conclusion:
Covering pets medically is like covering humans. We need to look out for the small details, the coverage, the probability of illness, and the price, in order to make an informed and responsible decision. If we aren’t prepared financially we can be set back in the future. Paying out of pocket can ruin many people’s budget, and insurance is the one thing that can prevent that. However, paying for the wrong insurance and then being forced to pay out of pocket for something that’s not covered is just as bad, if not worse. If you don’t research the companies you’re buying into, then you might regret it in the future. Make sure you make the right decision now so you don’t have to second-guess your self later.
