PetPlan VS Healthy Paws

[Discussing Labradoodles & Goldendoodles]

I am so sorry for all of my posts lately. I hope I am not bothering any of you.

I have done some extensive searches on insurance in the forum but still have some questions regarding which plan is best. 

My situation: Aspen is almost 11 weeks and the vet said she is very healthy. No issues whatsoever so far except for a little throwing up episode after taking flea medicine. I never really considered pet insurance until I found this forum and now I'm thinking it sounds like a great idea. I have a full time job and could pay for a large medical bill but I don't want to be put in that situation. My boyfriend and I are talking about getting married in the next year or two and we are saving as much as possible right now. I would rather have peace of mind knowing that I am paying a small amount each month and will be covered if anything does come up. I hope she never has health issues but I want to be prepared just in case.

So with all of that said, it seems that Healthy Paws and PetPlan are the 2 common ones here and highly recommended. Can you help me understand the differences? It seems that an 80% reimbursement is popular. Do you recommend this? Is there another provider that I should be considering? I am open to all suggestions! :)

Thank you so much in advance! And again my apologies for all of the posts!

[F, Calla & Luca]

I Don't know the differences in the plans but I have PET plan at 80%..

[Julie, Eloise & Beasley]

I'm not sure of the differences either - I just know there are so many options, lol - you really just have to look at them and decide what works best for your situation.  I also have PetPlan - silver with $200 deductible.  Besides the two you mentioned, Trupanion is another popular one.  I think there are comparison sites if you google it, and Lucy & Annabelle's Mom has a discussion posted on the front page with a great article about pet insurance.  (That had a comparison site, too.) 

One thing to keep in mind is the frequency of the deductible - whether it's per event or annual, as that might impact your decision.  Mine is a per illness deductible, as I purchased the insurance primarily to cover anything more catastrophic (heaven forbid).  Even though your puppy is healthy, one additional benefit of getting the policy in place when she's this young is that there aren't things in her records that will be considered preexisting conditions later on.  I'm sure you've seen most of this already if you've searched other discussions, but I wanted to reiterate.  :)  I think getting the insurance is the best choice, as I think the majority of us here do.  Things can change in the blink of an eye, so having that added peace of mind is worth it for me. 

[Janine N.]

I have Healthy Paws and love it. My Kona is healthy, but an intestinal bout when he was 5 months old. He was put on antibiotic and a probiotic which the plan covers all medications related to illness at 90 percent and just about everything else but the vet visit fee. We pay  $40 a month for the plan. The probiotic costs $37 a month and we get a check from Healthy Paws every month for 90 percent of the cost... so the plan nearly pays for itself.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Here are a couple of the main differences that I'm aware of.  Unless things have changed, with Pet Plan the Office Call charge is counted in the amount towards the deductible or the amount that is reimbursed.  With Healthy Paws, it isn't counted at all.  Doesn't seem like much unless you are talking a surgical consult which can be $100 at some places.  With Healthy Paws I believe the deductible is per YEAR and with Pet Plan it is per illness/accident.  In other words if I pay a deductible for allergies and then have a hip issue, there is a second deductible.  The biggest difference I've seen so far between them was with Jarka's Monty.  He had a torn CCL surgery and then 6 months later had to have the other.  This is a common thing with knees.  Most Drs will tell you if they tear one, the other one will go within a year.  With Pet Plan it says that they won't pay for another one within a year.  With Jarka's Healthy Paws, they approved and paid for it.  All in all, I personally don't think that you can go wrong with either plan.  They are both very good from what I can see.  I personally have Pet Plan for my Lucy and when we got AnnaBelle I considered switching and getting Healthy Paws for her, but just opted to stay with what I knew.  I have not been disappointed with Pet Plan and have used it extensively on my Lucy.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

I have Pet Plan and have charted my premiums to help others. I am sure all insurance goes up no matter the carrier. Here is the discussion.

http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/pet-insurance-premiums-wha...

[Amy and Annabelle]

I have Healthy Paws and haven't had to use them yet. So I can't say how they are when you file a claim. I got it for the major stuff. I can foot the office visits and such, but a $5,000 surgery is when I would need it. Most of my office visits are with a tech for shots and those are free. There is also no limit on claims. I have the 80/20 $250 annual deductible. I got some discounts when I signed up, I used Costco and microchipped. I pay $23.25 a month. I live in Michigan where the cost of vet care is cheaper than other areas. So it could more where you live. I had a dog that was poisoned by the neighbors antifreeze running down the gutter and got in a dog fight that required over 300 stitches and a stay in the hospital all in one year. Each instance was over $3000 and with Pet Plan would have been a deductible for each. Keeping that in the back of my mind was one of a few reasons I went with HP.

[Minnie Escobar]

Hey Stephanie, no need to apologize for asking for help. That’s what forums are for. Aspen is adorable and according to our vet, sooner is better with pet insurance.11 weeks is great because of some of the points you touched on. You hope aspen won’t have heath issues but if they arise at least you know you’re covered. Since a lot of companies rule out pre-existing conditions, if anything happens between now and the time of enrollment they could deny you coverage or use that as an excuse to charge you more for your monthly or annual premiums.

I'm also in the same pickle of deciding between healthy paws and petplan, both companies offer almost the same coverage including hereditary and chronic conditions (preexisting not included) but I'm thinking about going with HealthyPaws since they donate a substantial portion of their earnings to animal rescue and shelter efforts and since they have unlimited lifetime benefits, less genetic health limitations than petplan and from what I've heard they have a slightly faster claim payment as well which saves me the burden of paying one credit card cycle. I found these kind of helpful in helping me compare features between the companies and also to get a better idea of the ins and outs of pet insurance + some breed-specific health info.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/skokie/community/chi-ugc-arti...
https://www.petinsuranceu.com/compare-pet-insurance
http://www.petmd.com/dog/breeds/c_dg_labradoodle_hybrid

[Tara]

I also went with Healthy Paws.  I did some online research and they were the highest rated plan.  I believe we have a $250 annual deductible and 80% reimbursement.  We haven't had to use it yet but it came highly recommended in case of emergencies!

[Debbie and Toby]

We have PetPlan insurance and have been quite happy with them.  Toby injured his leg in December and had his ligament surgery December 30, we had to pay the deductible for expenses incurred in December, then had to pay another deductible for expenses after January 1. We still have expenses as a result of the surgery. They explained to me that even though the deductible is paid once per injury or illness, it still has to be paid per calendar year. Still a small price to pay, as this surgery, therapy, meds, follow up visits, etc has costed thousands, and we are so grateful that we had insurance to help with the cost of all these expenses.