Pet insurance. How much do you pay?

[Anonymous]

I have pet insurance for my cat and it's about $20/month. I have a major medical plan. It doesn't cover routine visits which is fine because cats don't really need much. I had it for my last 2 cats and it more than paid for itself. One of my cats had diabetes and it covered the cost of insulin. My other cat needed a few surgeries and they were covered at 100% after a $250 deductible. I have Nationwide.

[Anonymous]

Figo. $40/month for a young lab. It covers 90% for illnesses and emergencies. Haven’t used it yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
No pet insurance. I love my dog, but I will not spend 10s of thousands on his care when the time comes. In the meantime, I do my best to keep him healthy, and I have an old-fashioned vet who keeps things low-key and doesn't push interventions.

+1

[Anonymous]

It takes just one accident to put you in a position to decide life or death for your pup. If u don't mind paying $6~7k up front at one time, or if u don't feel guilty sending your pup to the rainbow bridge way ahead of his/her time, you don't need pet insurance. Just my 2 cents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pet insurance is a scam.

Exactly this.

As others have noted, insurance starts at $50-60 a month for young healthy pets. Once they get older and actually start getting into the risk area for expensive care it gets much more expensive. I just got a quote for my 13 year old cat at $96/mo.

So say an average of $80/mo over a 15 year lifespan. That's $14,400 in premiums. I've got two cats who have both needed expensive surgeries at some point - perfect case for pet insurance, right?

Well, no. Cat #1 - 13 years old, two urinary tract unblockings totaling $4,000, one urethral widening costing $6,000. No other events that pet insurance would have covered. So without insurance, $10,000 out of pocket. With insurance, assuming 80% coverage, $2,000 out of pocket + $12,480 in premiums (80x12x13) $14,480 total.

Cat #2 - 12 years old, one mammary chain removal, various imaging and screening appointments, about $6,500 out of pocket. No other events that pet insurance would have covered. With insurance - $1,300 out of pocket + $11,520 in premiums, $12,820 total.

Dog #1 - 10 years old. A couple of tumor biopsies, one mysterious liver issue, no other events that insurance would have covered. Around $4,000 out of pocket. With insurance, $800 out of pocket + $9,600 in premiums. Total $10,400.

So adding them all up, No insurance: $20,500. Insurance: $37,700. Assuming they all make it to 15 that's another $9,600 in premiums, so I'd have to accrue over $32,000 in qualifying vet bills in the next 2-5 years just to break even, and that's with 2/3 animals already having expensive medical issues.

Scam indeed.

[Anonymous]

Total scam.

[Anonymous]

Not a scam if you have older pets. The insurance is fairly cheap when they were young, but steadily rises. I didn't get pet insurance until they were in their early teens. So I think it's basically been a wash until recently. I have been paying $120 a month combined for my cats using Embrace. Luckily, I got them coverage before they had many health issues, which would have been pre-existing conditions.

The 17-year-old cat now needs annual ultrasounds of his heart for $750, which, coincidentally is the cost of the deductible. That means all his meds and other vet visits get covered (Pet insurance pays 80%)

My 19-year-old was pretty healthy until last year, and they even lowered the deductible since I hadn't made claims. But she needed frequent vet visits and surgery more recently, so I've saved several thousand on her. Sadly, she had to be euthanized on Monday, but I think that will be covered, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pet insurance is a scam.

Exactly this.

As others have noted, insurance starts at $50-60 a month for young healthy pets. Once they get older and actually start getting into the risk area for expensive care it gets much more expensive. I just got a quote for my 13 year old cat at $96/mo.

So say an average of $80/mo over a 15 year lifespan. That's $14,400 in premiums. I've got two cats who have both needed expensive surgeries at some point - perfect case for pet insurance, right?

Well, no. Cat #1 - 13 years old, two urinary tract unblockings totaling $4,000, one urethral widening costing $6,000. No other events that pet insurance would have covered. So without insurance, $10,000 out of pocket. With insurance, assuming 80% coverage, $2,000 out of pocket + $12,480 in premiums (80x12x13) $14,480 total.

Cat #2 - 12 years old, one mammary chain removal, various imaging and screening appointments, about $6,500 out of pocket. No other events that pet insurance would have covered. With insurance - $1,300 out of pocket + $11,520 in premiums, $12,820 total.

Dog #1 - 10 years old. A couple of tumor biopsies, one mysterious liver issue, no other events that insurance would have covered. Around $4,000 out of pocket. With insurance, $800 out of pocket + $9,600 in premiums. Total $10,400.

So adding them all up, No insurance: $20,500. Insurance: $37,700. Assuming they all make it to 15 that's another $9,600 in premiums, so I'd have to accrue over $32,000 in qualifying vet bills in the next 2-5 years just to break even, and that's with 2/3 animals already having expensive medical issues.

Scam indeed.

Thank you for breaking it down for us with real numbers. It really helps to see the reality. Of course, it's always possible for a pet to have several hugely expensive issues that insurance can cover. But a typical family will not experience this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pet insurance is a scam.

Exactly this.

As others have noted, insurance starts at $50-60 a month for young healthy pets. Once they get older and actually start getting into the risk area for expensive care it gets much more expensive. I just got a quote for my 13 year old cat at $96/mo.

So say an average of $80/mo over a 15 year lifespan. That's $14,400 in premiums. I've got two cats who have both needed expensive surgeries at some point - perfect case for pet insurance, right?

Well, no. Cat #1 - 13 years old, two urinary tract unblockings totaling $4,000, one urethral widening costing $6,000. No other events that pet insurance would have covered. So without insurance, $10,000 out of pocket. With insurance, assuming 80% coverage, $2,000 out of pocket + $12,480 in premiums (80x12x13) $14,480 total.

Cat #2 - 12 years old, one mammary chain removal, various imaging and screening appointments, about $6,500 out of pocket. No other events that pet insurance would have covered. With insurance - $1,300 out of pocket + $11,520 in premiums, $12,820 total.

Dog #1 - 10 years old. A couple of tumor biopsies, one mysterious liver issue, no other events that insurance would have covered. Around $4,000 out of pocket. With insurance, $800 out of pocket + $9,600 in premiums. Total $10,400.

So adding them all up, No insurance: $20,500. Insurance: $37,700. Assuming they all make it to 15 that's another $9,600 in premiums, so I'd have to accrue over $32,000 in qualifying vet bills in the next 2-5 years just to break even, and that's with 2/3 animals already having expensive medical issues.

Scam indeed.

Thank you for breaking it down for us with real numbers. It really helps to see the reality. Of course, it's always possible for a pet to have several hugely expensive issues that insurance can cover. But a typical family will not experience this.

Exactly. All you ever need to know about insurance is that it can not possibly exist unless it is, on average, paying out less than it takes in.

Insurance makes sense for things like cars, where your liability can easily reach six or even seven figure levels almost nobody has the cash on hand to pay for. It doesn't make sense for pets when nearly any issue can be taken care of with savings or a decent credit line.

[Anonymous]

It's more like emotional insurance for us, so we don't have to decide to treat/not treat the unexpected.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pet insurance is a scam.

Until your dog has an obstruction, or a TPLO surgery, or any surgery, etc.

One January, we were out 15k due to 2 emergencies we never saw coming. No insurance. My pet insurance now pays 75 to 90% of procedure costs. It's absolutely important to have it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pet insurance is a scam.

Exactly this.

As others have noted, insurance starts at $50-60 a month for young healthy pets. Once they get older and actually start getting into the risk area for expensive care it gets much more expensive. I just got a quote for my 13 year old cat at $96/mo.

So say an average of $80/mo over a 15 year lifespan. That's $14,400 in premiums. I've got two cats who have both needed expensive surgeries at some point - perfect case for pet insurance, right?

Well, no. Cat #1 - 13 years old, two urinary tract unblockings totaling $4,000, one urethral widening costing $6,000. No other events that pet insurance would have covered. So without insurance, $10,000 out of pocket. With insurance, assuming 80% coverage, $2,000 out of pocket + $12,480 in premiums (80x12x13) $14,480 total.

Cat #2 - 12 years old, one mammary chain removal, various imaging and screening appointments, about $6,500 out of pocket. No other events that pet insurance would have covered. With insurance - $1,300 out of pocket + $11,520 in premiums, $12,820 total.

Dog #1 - 10 years old. A couple of tumor biopsies, one mysterious liver issue, no other events that insurance would have covered. Around $4,000 out of pocket. With insurance, $800 out of pocket + $9,600 in premiums. Total $10,400.

So adding them all up, No insurance: $20,500. Insurance: $37,700. Assuming they all make it to 15 that's another $9,600 in premiums, so I'd have to accrue over $32,000 in qualifying vet bills in the next 2-5 years just to break even, and that's with 2/3 animals already having expensive medical issues.

Scam indeed.

Thank you for breaking it down for us with real numbers. It really helps to see the reality. Of course, it's always possible for a pet to have several hugely expensive issues that insurance can cover. But a typical family will not experience this.

The problem with this inaccurate breakdown is the repeated term "would have paid for."

The companies pay! I have no idea what cheap policy this guy used, but our paid. Some companies exclude prior conditions, but even then not all companies do.

We have Trupanion and family member uses Fetch . They paid everything...

TPLO surgeries- ( 2)
Oral cancer 1
A colonoscopy with sedation- 1
All diagnostics. (3 dogs..variety of things)

This would all have been over 25k. We paid, together, 3k. So yeah, insurance helps. Don't listen to anyone saying it's a scam.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pet insurance is a scam.

Exactly this.

As others have noted, insurance starts at $50-60 a month for young healthy pets. Once they get older and actually start getting into the risk area for expensive care it gets much more expensive. I just got a quote for my 13 year old cat at $96/mo.

So say an average of $80/mo over a 15 year lifespan. That's $14,400 in premiums. I've got two cats who have both needed expensive surgeries at some point - perfect case for pet insurance, right?

Well, no. Cat #1 - 13 years old, two urinary tract unblockings totaling $4,000, one urethral widening costing $6,000. No other events that pet insurance would have covered. So without insurance, $10,000 out of pocket. With insurance, assuming 80% coverage, $2,000 out of pocket + $12,480 in premiums (80x12x13) $14,480 total.

Cat #2 - 12 years old, one mammary chain removal, various imaging and screening appointments, about $6,500 out of pocket. No other events that pet insurance would have covered. With insurance - $1,300 out of pocket + $11,520 in premiums, $12,820 total.

Dog #1 - 10 years old. A couple of tumor biopsies, one mysterious liver issue, no other events that insurance would have covered. Around $4,000 out of pocket. With insurance, $800 out of pocket + $9,600 in premiums. Total $10,400.

So adding them all up, No insurance: $20,500. Insurance: $37,700. Assuming they all make it to 15 that's another $9,600 in premiums, so I'd have to accrue over $32,000 in qualifying vet bills in the next 2-5 years just to break even, and that's with 2/3 animals already having expensive medical issues.

Scam indeed.

Thank you for breaking it down for us with real numbers. It really helps to see the reality. Of course, it's always possible for a pet to have several hugely expensive issues that insurance can cover. But a typical family will not experience this.

Hahaha...if you have a dog, you absolutely WILL have many very exoensive treatments in the course of a dog's life. You can bet on it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pet insurance is a scam.

Exactly this.

As others have noted, insurance starts at $50-60 a month for young healthy pets. Once they get older and actually start getting into the risk area for expensive care it gets much more expensive. I just got a quote for my 13 year old cat at $96/mo.

So say an average of $80/mo over a 15 year lifespan. That's $14,400 in premiums. I've got two cats who have both needed expensive surgeries at some point - perfect case for pet insurance, right?

Well, no. Cat #1 - 13 years old, two urinary tract unblockings totaling $4,000, one urethral widening costing $6,000. No other events that pet insurance would have covered. So without insurance, $10,000 out of pocket. With insurance, assuming 80% coverage, $2,000 out of pocket + $12,480 in premiums (80x12x13) $14,480 total.

Cat #2 - 12 years old, one mammary chain removal, various imaging and screening appointments, about $6,500 out of pocket. No other events that pet insurance would have covered. With insurance - $1,300 out of pocket + $11,520 in premiums, $12,820 total.

Dog #1 - 10 years old. A couple of tumor biopsies, one mysterious liver issue, no other events that insurance would have covered. Around $4,000 out of pocket. With insurance, $800 out of pocket + $9,600 in premiums. Total $10,400.

So adding them all up, No insurance: $20,500. Insurance: $37,700. Assuming they all make it to 15 that's another $9,600 in premiums, so I'd have to accrue over $32,000 in qualifying vet bills in the next 2-5 years just to break even, and that's with 2/3 animals already having expensive medical issues.

Scam indeed.

You have poor insurance. Or you are assuming a lot that just isn't true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
No pet insurance. I love my dog, but I will not spend 10s of thousands on his care when the time comes. In the meantime, I do my best to keep him healthy, and I have an old-fashioned vet who keeps things low-key and doesn't push interventions.

So you will just kill him when he breaks a leg, eats a poison, has a treatable tumor or condition? Why do you have a dog anyway?