Pet Health Insurance:A Veterinarian's Perspective

By Doug Kenney

Updated in December, 2021, this in-depth guide will help pet owners as well as veterinarians and their staffs understand how pet insurance works. It will help pet owners decide whether they need pet insurance, and if so, help them choose the best company and policy to insure their pet. Dr. Kenney informs pet owners of the essential questions to ask before purchasing pet insurance. This need-to-know information is based on his experience from diagnosing and treating the very problems that pet owners will file claims for as well studying the pet insurance industry for over a decade. It will also make them aware of steps they can take to get the most out of their policy after purchase. The book contains links to bonus material (webpages, articles, videos) that will enhance the reader's understanding of the topics covered.

• Language: English
• Publisher: PhiloSophia Publishing
• Release date: Apr 17, 2019
• ISBN: 9781386440680

Book preview

Table of Contents

Introduction

Is Pet Insurance For You?

Putting An End To Economic Euthanasia

Pet Health Savings Account or Pet Insurance?

What You Need To Know About Premiums

Choosing A Company To Insure Your Pet

What About Pre-Existing Conditions?

Filing A Claim

Beware of Managed Care

The Future of Pet Insurance

Conduct An Annual Policy Checkup

Resources

Introduction

My journey to writing about pet insurance started several years ago when the only pet insurance company I knew existed was Veterinary Pet Insurance (VPI - now Nationwide). It had been around for about 25 years and we had a supply of their brochures on hand just in case a client asked about pet insurance.

On the way home one day, I stopped by a specialty hospital to check on a patient I had referred there earlier that afternoon. While waiting to talk with the internist, I saw a brochure about ASPCA pet insurance in the reception area. Soon thereafter, I received brochures from Pets Best and Embrace pet insurance companies. Both of these companies had just recently started up.

I started researching the industry and found that there were even more companies offering pet insurance. It had been easy to recommend a specific pet insurance company when the only one I knew about was VPI, but now I was aware of several other companies and their policies were all quite different.

I called and talked with company representatives and eventually established a relationship with at least one person who became my go-to contact at each company. Oftentimes, it was a veterinary colleague on staff at the company or even the President/CEO of the company.

After reading reviews that pet owners posted online about their experiences with pet insurance, it became clear that those who had buyer’s remorse weren’t aware of all the options available to them when they purchased insurance, or they simply didn’t understand what they were buying. I realized that other pet owners and veterinarians probably had similar questions to those I had after visiting pet insurance company websites, so I decided to put what I’d learned into a book.

From my research, it became evident that pet insurance isn’t a one size fits all type of product. Therefore, I decided to forgo recommending a specific company because each pet owner has different needs and budgets when it comes to choosing a pet insurance company and policy to insure their pet. With 15-20 plus pet insurance brands in the United States, there’s enough variety to pick one that best fits your needs.

As a practicing veterinarian, I’ve often wondered why more pet owners don’t have health insurance for their pets. I finally realized they simply don’t see what I see every day. Unless they have been faced with a seriously injured or ill pet that required medical care that costs thousands of dollars, they simply don’t see the need for it. Or, they mistakenly believe that something like that will never happen to them.

Therefore, I’ve written this book from a veterinarian’s perspective with insights into real life situations you should consider when deciding whether or not to purchase pet insurance. Who better to write a book on pet insurance than someone who diagnoses and treats the problems that pet owners will have to file claims for when their pet is sick or injured?

This book is written not only for those people who may have just recently heard about pet insurance and are investigating it for the first time, but also for those who may have looked at pet insurance in the past and decided that it was either too expensive or there were too many exclusions to be worthwhile. If that’s the case, I urge you to take another look because there have been many changes in what’s covered, and policies are now so customizable that you can almost always design a policy that meets your needs and fits your budget.

So, my goal for this book is to provide information for veterinarians and pet owners that is:

Accurate and up-to-date

Easy to understand

Helpful when deciding whether to purchase pet insurance, and if so, provide tips on selecting a company to insure their pet.

Unique – not found anywhere else – including online and video bonus content. This digital content will enhance your understanding of pet insurance and how to maximize its potential to help you pay for your pet’s healthcare expenses.

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Reviews for Pet Health Insurance:A Veterinarian's Perspective

[Beth Fischer · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is an incredibly valuable book. It’s an easy read that provides exactly what you need to know and consider when selecting pet insurance. It’s straightforward and to the point, not wordy or filled with jargon. It left me so much better prepared to select a pet insurance plan! It covers all sorts of things to consider and to ask insurance companies about before enrolling in a plan, many of which I would not have anticipated. It also covers issues to consider at plan renewal time. Points out numerous pitfalls to avoid, as well as strategies to use to customize plans for the best fit. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has pets, and also think that this book would be helpful to veterinarians in answering clients’ general questions about pet insurance.