Pet Insurance: Benefits and Types of Coverage  

If your pet has needed medical care recently, you are probably aware that, just like with human healthcare, pet healthcare costs are rising. In fact, medical treatments often cost more than a pet owner can afford. Fortunately, there’s pet healthcare insurance to help ease the burden. Pet insurance allows you to go to the vet knowing that you’ll be able to get your pets the treatment they need, without worrying so much about the cost.

If your pet is young and healthy, it might be tempting to forego the monthly expense of insurance. However, accidents can happen, and sometimes health conditions develop quickly. After you purchase pet health insurance, there’s a waiting period before you can use it, so it’s better to get it before you need it, as pre-existing conditions may restrict insurance ability. There are many different types of pet insurance out there, for dogs and cats, but also for more exotic pets like birds and reptiles. As with human health insurance, pet insurance requires a monthly premium payment, and coverage is typically calculated by a percentage of the treatment cost. Let’s look at some commonly asked questions about pet insurance.

What is covered by pet insurance? There are different types of pet insurance. The laws that govern human health insurance don’t apply to pet insurance, though, and no pet insurance programs cover pre-existing health conditions. Some providers will cover a pre-existing condition after a certain waiting time, if the condition is curable, and no symptoms have occurred. Basically, there are four types of pet insurance coverage plans.

• Wellness plans cover checkups, yearly vaccines, and routine care. 
• Accident-only plans only cover emergency care related to accidents. 
• Accident-illness plans cover treatments and tests for both accidents and illnesses. 
• Accident-illness plans with wellness coverage cover expected and unexpected treatments, excluding pre-existing conditions.

What’s the right type of insurance for your pet? This is largely a subjective decision. Each pet has unique needs, but for most pet owners, an accident-illness plan is the best option. This type of plan is typically reasonably priced, and it covers the most expensive medical bills for injuries and illnesses. You don’t need to check and see if your vet accepts an insurance plan before deciding on one: pet insurance reimburses you for the money you’ve already paid to the vet.

At Reed Animal Hospital, we treat your pets as if they were our own. Our goal is to help you and your pet enjoy a healthy, fulfilling life together, so our extraordinary team offers a wide range of services. We’ve got veterinarians, technicians, assistants, and receptionists, all prepared to help you and your pet, and we even offer referrals to specialty surgeons, many of whom will travel to our office to consult with your pet. For more information or to make an appointment, call us in Campbell at 408-369-1788, or in Saratoga at 408-647-2906, or contact us through our website.