Is pet insurance worth it? Revisited
September 18th, 2007 by KenricSince I don’t have pet insurance I’m paying 100% out of pocket for her treatment. The treatment has not been completed yet, but based on their estimates it looks like I will have to set aside at least $4,000 to pay for her hospital bills.
So I thought I’d revisit the pet insurance issue and see how much of the $4,000 would be covered if I had enrolled her in VPI.
From the emergency clinic, I paid $1,450 which included an emergency visit ($100), 24 hours of emergency care ($150), blood tests ($300), a blood transfusion ($410) and a bunch of medications ($490). Based on the VPI benefit chart, the insurance would have covered $200 for the testing and $692 of the IMHA treatment. It would also have covered $290 for the blood transfusion. Remember VPI only reimburses 90% of this. VPI would have saved me $980. Knowing what I know about IMHA now, I can tell you that $892 is a paultry benefit limit for any dog diagnosed with this disease. This is not a one visit and done disease. It requires alot of medical attention and post care. I would have pretty much used up all my primary benefit allowance for IMHA at the emergency clinic.
The next set of bills is going to be from hospitalization for 2 days and more tests. The estimate for these bills are between $2,400 and $3,400. Using the low estimate, based on my understanding of the VPI plan, I’m going to have to pay about $2,200 of my next $2,400 bill. If the bill was $3,400, I’d have to pay $3,200 of it.
So if I had VPI, I would be paying $2,670 instead of $3,850. A savings of close to $1,200. So is it worth it? Sadly, I’d still say no. If you do the math and compare the amount of premiums paid to your savings, I just can’t see how pet insurance ever becomes a smart financial move.
Just out of curiosity, I have been comparing vet charges with the benefit limits of certain conditions and they are just so low that I’d say this insurance is good for regular check ups only. Any complications and you will be paying alot out of pocket.
Posted in Finances | 8 Comments »
Stumble it!
sorry to hear about that. I hope she gets well, and soon. Yes, I tend to agree with you, financially speaking the pet insurance does not seem to be a great idea. Problem is, pets are in reality family members so that industry is making great money based on the emotional reaction from pet owners. I know it as we just lost our 11-yrs old Boxer. Had we had insurance, nothing would had been different. Again, I hope she gets well.
By Andres on Sep 18, 2007
Please don’t think VPI represents what you would get out of other pet insurance companies. VPI doesn’t cover hereditary conditions and pays based on the benefit schedule.
Other companies such as Embrace Pet Insurance (I’m the CEO and co-founder), PetCare and PetPlan cover hereditary conditions and pay based on the vet bill so you would have been much better off with their insurance.
Would you have paid more in premuium? Sure, you likely would have but you’d be getting way more back, much closer to what you paid.
Laura
By Laura Bennett, Chief Embracer, Embrace Pet Insurance on Sep 19, 2007
Thanks Andres, She’s doing better but she’s not out of the woods yet.
By Kenric on Sep 19, 2007
I’m also sorry to hear about your dog. I tend to agree with you though, about pet insurance not really being smart financially. It’s really important to consider how much you would’ve paid month to month in comparison to how much they would pay out if your animal did get hurt or become ill.
By Self Directed IRA on Aug 14, 2008
I have done quite a bit on research on pet insurance and unfortunately, VPI is not the best of the insurers. They do have a lot of publicity, and I am seeing them quoted in real life stories on blog posts.
I have a feeling that your would fare better with a company like Pets Best or Embrace Pet Insurance.
By Alice on Mar 1, 2009
I think overall pet insurance is not worth it. Lets say you get the insurance and your pet goes without illness,injuries or sudden acidents for a whole year and then finally your pet is hurt and is rushed to the hospital, the cost comes up to $600.00 and your
premium fee was $36 per month which adds up to $432.00 yearly, your insurance company would have only given you $168.00 toward your pets cost in the end you are basicly paying them to pay you back your own money.The only way your insurance policy is worth it, is if your pet is rushed to the hospital when you firt enroll.My ideal insurance policy is a monthly premium and my insurance company cover the cost up front for me(meaning no up front cost for me,no money out of my pocket upon visit, no claim!) They will pay for me ! if anyone know any insurance company like that, please let me know.
By evey-e on Jul 27, 2009
just adding a little more to my first comment, you are paying the insurance company to pay you back your own money and you still have to pay the hospital fee at the time of care. What if you don’t have the high costing Emergency fee? your pet would not receive care and the insurance company get to keep your money, oops,I mean your 90% Reimbursement claim.
By evey-e on Jul 27, 2009
Hi, I came to the same conclusion about VPI which is that they have a low cap on every condition so their insurance will fail you in times of crisis and emergency which is why you would really need pet insurance anyway. Check out Trupanion insurance (found it on the Petco website but I do not know the extent of the affiliation). They don’t bother with paying out teaser amounts for routine care– they are all about accident and illness coverage. They cover all hereditary and congenital conditions as long as they were not showing symptoms prior to the policy. Definitely don’t look at the fake examples on the VPI site that lead you to believe that they cover almost all of the various situations. In these examples, they misrepresent the real and much higher cost of the procedures so that it looks like their capped allowance covers 80 to 90% of the bill.
By sue on Dec 17, 2009