My friend has e-mailed me a Series of Unfortunate Events and how they pertain to her two young persians, ringworm, an ear infection,a $400 fever, and shots.
She just took one cat in to have its shots and it needed to go through a series of tests because they found that it had a fever. This cost her $400.00 and it turns out the cat is just under the weather and nothing serious is wrong. There’s still some work to be done under the hood. She had one persian and then her cousin gave her another from a litter for free, ever since she’s had ringworm and has given the other cat, the furniture, and the residents ringworm as well.
My friend’s needlessly to say, stressed out by these mounting kitty costs, so I suggested checking into pet health insurance. Any doper experience with this? Is this a good idea or is it more of a headache?
I have a policy with these people. They’re not bad – though I haven’t submitted a claim yet so I don’t know what that will be like.
Some things to keep in mind:
This isn’t like an HMO or other human health plans. There’s no co-pay and they don’t have a relationship with any vets. You pay out of pocket then submit a claim for reimbursement.
Read, read, read and understand exactly what you’re buying. There’s a whole list of hereditary and genetic conditions [depending on breed] that probably won’t be covered, as well as anything pre-existing, or routine care – although you can buy optional coverage for that.
Kind of related, but make sure you understand how the policy works. With mine the insurance company will reimburse me a certain percentage of my out of pocket depending on my claim history. It’s something like the first claim of the year is 80%, the next is 50%, and the next is 30% and they cancel your policy. So you have to self-insure a bit and it’s obviously somewhat of a gamble. “Do I submit this $400 bill for a sterile abscess and hope he doesn’t get hit by a car and needs $1000 of emergency surgery later this year?” [Yes, I was just at the vet this morning.]
Another option, which may be better for your friend [although it maybe too late for this incident], is to find a vet that is willing to setup a payment plan. Many vets do, and there are companies that offer plans through vets so they don’t have to take on the risk.
I have my policy for “big emergencies.” Expenses like your friend has I probably wouldn’t submit.
Yeah, ringworm sucks. One of my dogs actually got it from my vet’s office. They paid for the treatment, but man what a hassle – especially trying to keep the two dogs away from each other. I hope your friends luck changes soon and her kitties get better.