How to Choose the Best Pet Insurance

The pet health and rescue organization, SPCA International, recommends that pet owners buy pet insurance. However, with so many companies offering different types of pet insurance, choosing the right one for you and your pet can be challenging. Here's how to choose the best pet insurance with 10 important questions.

#1. What Are the Policy Limits?

Policy limits are critical to choosing the best pet insurance. Such limits mean that your insurance company places a limit on how much it will pay out on any given claim. In such cases, your policy pay out may be much smaller than you expected. In addition, some pet insurance companies may sound like their policy limits are generous, but they may have a "lifetime limit" on claims paid out on your policy. This means that your various claim pay out figures will be taken cumulatively until your reach a limit for how much the pet insurance company will pay for future claims.

#2. What Are the Reimbursement Limits?

To choose the best pet insurance be sure to look at how you will be reimbursed when you file a claim. Will the insurance company simply pay out an agreed upon percentage of your total bill? If so, this is a good pet insurance with no surprises.

However, some pet insurance companies reimburse not based on your bill but based on a "benefit schedule". In this case you'll receive the agreed upon percentage not from the total bill but from the amount the insurance company listed as the cap for this procedure (this may change with network doctors discussed in step 5 below). Print out a copy of the "benefit schedule" and show it to your vet to get his input on the payment caps, or choose a pet insurance with no "benefit schedule".

#3. What About Pet Insurance Deductibles?

The cost of your pet insurance plan will rise at an opposite ratio to your deductible. In other words, the lower your out-of-pocket expenses when your pet gets sick, the higher your monthly pet insurance premiums will be. To choose the best pet insurance consider the following deductible options:

Emergency Pet Insurance: A large deductible will make your pet insurance monthly payments very low and give you peace of mind should a serious health problem arise, but all routine visits to your doctor will be so much cheaper than your deductible that you'll be paying them out of pocket.

Balanced Pet Insurance: If you can strike a balance between your pet insurance premiums and the out of pocket expenses during a medical emergency, you'll have the best solution. When you choose the best pet insurance for you, ask them if you can switch to a higher or lower deductible somewhere down the line without penalties should you want to.

Expensive Pet Insurance: If you can afford a very low deductible plan, your pet insurance monthly payments will be high, but you will have to pay very little out of pocket for your pet's healthcare.

#4. What About Pet Insurance Plan Coverage?

Cheap pet insurance plans typically offer a more limited range of coverage. When you choose the best pet insurance for you consider what illnesses are covered, whether major illnesses are included and how much will it take to add them later on if they currently are excluded from your pet insurance plan.

In addition, the best pet insurance should provide coverage for routine accidents like broken legs or cuts. The SPCA International recommends making sure that surgical coverage is included under accident-only pet insurance plans, as well as veterinary coverage for hernias and the swallowing of objects that must be surgically removed.

#5. What About Network and Out of Network Doctors?

To choose the best pet insurance you must retain the ability to choose the best vet. Make sure your insurance policy allows you to choose the vet yourself, rather than be restricted to network doctors. If the insurance policy places a reimbursement limit on out of network doctors make sure the reimbursement percentage is no lower than 80%. In addition, make sure your pet insurance covers after-hour emergencies in pet hospitals, as well as referrals to specialists for more serious health issues.

#6. What About Non-Interference with the Vet's Decisions?

The best pet insurance companies never second-guess the doctor. The diagnosis of your pet and recommended treatment should remain in your hands and the hands of your chosen expert. A complicated reimbursement schedule from your insurance company will limit your healthcare choices for your pet, just when you need them most.

#7. What Procedures Are Excluded from Coverage?

Before you choose the best pet insurance look at what they don't offer, as well as what they do. Ask for a list of procedures that are not covered under the policy. If such a list is not available, this is not a pet insurance policy you should choose.

#8. Is the Pet Insurance Company Licensed?

Pet insurance companies that went to the trouble of getting licensed by the State you live in have to pass a certain bar. You are likely to choose one of the best pet insurance companies when you choose from this list. However, this isn't to say that unlicensed pet insurance companies are necessarily inferior.

#9. Does My Vet Recommend this Pet Insurance?

Before choosing the best pet insurance, check with your vet's office if they have heard anything bad about this insurance company, or the reverse. Check also if they have a favorite pet insurance company to recommend.

#10. What's the Pet Insurance Customer Service Like?

Choose the best pet insurance by their customer service department, not just the sales department. When you dial the company's number, select customer service from the menu options. Tell the representative that you would like some info on filing a claim, but that you are not yet a policy holder. Though they will try to transfer you to sales, judge their attitude and how willing they are to help you. This, coupled with the image the company is trying to project, will tell you if this pet insurance company is operated by pet lovers.

Reference

SPCA International: "Pet Insurance"

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