Pet Insurance Feedback?

[Mary, Scrappy, Sully and Olive]

I've done my research and have narrowed down my choices in pet insurance.  We have a 7 month old rescue who I'd love to start off with some kind of insurance. Learned our lesson big time with Grover, who we lost almost a month ago.  I'm pretty much making car payment size monthly payments for our bill :(

Anyway, I would love to hear any feedback on plans.  Most specifically.....what the ideal options might be.  Do I add an RX plan? Is there an ideal maximum payout and deductible? Is the wellness option worth the cost?  Thinking others that have used it will have some valuable advice. 

Currently I'm leaning towards Embrace.  My brother in law is pushing Nationwide, but I don't like the pay schedules.  I'm still open to others though.

Thanks for any and all experiences...positive and negative!!

[Mary, Scrappy, Sully and Olive]

Thank you! another positive for Healthy Paws....going to seriously consider this one against Embrace. .

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I have had Pet Plan since my guys were puppies and it has paid for itself many times over.  You might want to ask your Vet what their experience has been before deciding...they sometimes have a good sense for coverage and ease of doing business.  To me the most important thing is to get the insurance before the dog has a chance for developing something that would qualify as a "pre-existing condition".  Pet Plan has covered my guys for Pancreatitis, IBD, Atopic Dermatitis, and some more minor things along the way.  My vet faxes the completed forms to them and within a week or two I get a check.  It clearly has increased in price over the years.  I just got Murphy's renewal and it's now over $9000...but one episode of his IBD where he needs to be hospitalized would be more than that.  I do not have the coverage for "healthy check ups"...I really wanted it for the more serious illnesses.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Jane, is that a typo, or are Murphy's insurance premiums really $9000 a year?????

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Yes, Jane. How much is their premium?

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

There was one extra zero there.  Murph's premium is $938 a year and Guinness is $1078.  Murph is 8 and Guinness is 9....it goes up each year and I'm assuming the claim experience is factored in as well.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Whew, that makes a lot more sense, lol! 

[Mary, Scrappy, Sully and Olive]

I think I've narrowed it down between Healthy Paws and Embrace. Healthy Paws may be the one.

Embrace has only one coverage per year of ingested items. Hopefully it never hsppens, but what if it does?

But, on the plus side, they cover exam or office visit fees for emergencies or accidents.  I may be able to get a small discount through Geico on the premiums, but have to check. 

Healthy Paws seem to be unlimited yearly max?? I may be wrong. Embrace offers 8,000 yearly max for a similar price plan. 

Also considering adding a plan for Scrappy who will be 11 in 2 weeks. That averages 40 or so per month. Of course it won't cover anything pre-existing, so unless she develops cancer.... May not be worth it. But then again, it may. Embrace let's me choose the % of reimburse and deductible.....Healthy Paws offers 65% with a $650 yr deductible. 

[Stacy]

You are correct. Healthy Paws does not have a yearly maximum payout. That was the deciding factor for me. 

[Mary, Scrappy, Sully and Olive]

You said you had 80% with $250 deductible Stacy? Are you happy with that? I'm thinking that might be sufficient....or maybe 90%. Decisions decisions.

[Stacy]

Yes, I did the 250 deductible with 80% reimbursement. I went back and forth, weighing the increased premium with the 90% reimbursement and the fact that I hope not to ever really need to use the insurance. And then I figured that even if I had 20,000 in vet bills in one year my portion would only be 4,000. I felt like that was a risk that I could live with. One thing to take into consideration though, is that it's much harder to increase the reimbursement level if you change your mind later than it is to decrease it. Maybe it's tempting fate, but I feel like the chances of having another dog who is as sick as Ava is slim. 

[Laurie, Wally & Charlotte]

Both of my dogs are covered by Nationwide and it has more than paid for itself. 

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Oh man, can't have a Pet Insurance discussion with input from me.  Something near an dear to my heart.  I personally have Pet Plan.  I got it when Lucy and Sophie (RIP) were I think 2 years old.  They didn't have any pre-existing conditions at the time so I lucked out on that.  I originally had the 100% pay with a $200 deductible.  I was very happy with that set up.  Pet Plan a couple years ago went to a new underwriter and did away with the 100% option and the $200 deductible became unreasonable cost wise.  I had to make some adjustments in my selections at that point and I was disappointed that Pet Plan did this because it put those of us with pre-existing conditions in an awkward position.  You really couldn't switch at that point so it was either pick new and deal with it or drop it and cross your fingers.  I chose to go with a 90% pay and a $300 deductible and I also dropped my annual max down to $15,000.  I felt comfortable doing that because of the area where I live.  I can get reasonable Vet care in most cases.  That would be the only complaint I've ever really had with PetPlan as I felt we should have been grandfathered into the plans we had.  Having said that though I am getting ready to file my 66th claim for my Lucy and each and every claim has been paid as I expected it would be and a couple have paid more than I expected.  I also went through Chemo treatments with my Sophie and all of those claims were paid as I expected.  There were a couple times I questioned something but once I read the fine print they were paid in accordance with the policy.  I think that is where a lot of people get into trouble is the fine print.  They don't read it carefully and then they blame the Company when they don't get paid as expected.  From what I have known over the last 8 years of discussions on this topic, Healthy Paws is very good as well.  I'm not familiar with the others.  As for putting the monthly premiums into the bank for an emergency or if you have a savings, my thoughts are like some others.  It would take a long time of saving up before you had the money necessary to cover an emergency surgery of several thousand dollars.  Just this last week I read about a young couple that's dog needed emergency surgery and were forced into surrendering the dog because they couldn't afford it.  They were now trying to get their dog back and the whole situation was a mess.  Additionally, even if I had $25,000 in my savings I'm not sure Vet bills is how I would want to drain my account.  I look at it like I can afford the monthly amount it costs without even really noticing it but if I had to lay out $10,000 I would notice that big time.  I'm sure even with my 66 claims over the last 8 years that I've paid more in premiums than I've gotten back, I've never figured it up, but every time I have to make a medical decision or every time one of them starts limping and we have to go to the Vet I don't have to panic wondering how I'm going to pay for it.  With regards to the Well care, I think that isn't worth it.  I knew when I got my dogs I was going to have to pay for that stuff, so I was prepared for that.  It is the big ticket items I worry about.