More people are buying pet health insurance
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Renee Tarnutzer holds Popcorn, front, and Kernel, her family pets. The maltese/ bischon mix dogs that have pet insurance to cover their health issues/ Popcorn wears a collar and has both front legs bandaged after having surgery to remove a cist from his eye. The dog received fluids in one leg and anesthetic in the other.
Photo
Renee Tarnutzer
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To find pet insurance rates, visit dogtime.com, petinsurance.com, petsbest.com, gopetplan.com or purinacare.com.
JANESVILLE — Pets can be pricy, as Renee and Troy Tarnutzer can attest.
Since 2006, the couple have racked up a whopping $8,000 in veterinary bills for their two male Maltese Bichon mixes, Popcorn, 10½, and Kernel, 10.
There were bladder stone surgeries, blood clots, the removal of a tumor and part of a tail, treatments for an enlarged heart and liver, congestive heart failure and protein in the urine. Add the costs for regular teeth cleanings, annual checkups and prescriptions—Popcorn takes seven pills a day while Kernel takes three—and you can really see the money fly.
Fortunately for the Tarnutzers, they bought pet health insurance about eight years ago. That has helped cover a good portion of their bills.
“We had seen brochures at our vets and talked to them about it,” Renee said. “Our philosophy is we’re going to do whatever it takes to take care of our pets.
“By having insurance, you never have to question where you’re going to get money to take care of that problem while dealing with all the other problems in your life.”
More buying pet health insurance
“Every six seconds, a pet owner is faced with a vet bill of more than $1,000,” according to gopetplan.com
That’s one reason more people are buying pet health insurance.
As of June, nearly a half million pets were insured through Veterinary Pet Insurance, the oldest and largest pet health insurance company in the country. In 2009, the company paid out more than $100 million in claims, said corporate spokesman Grant Biniasz.
“Right now we have 485,000 policies nationwide,” he said.
VPI sold its first pet insurance policy 28 years ago. While most of the company’s growth has come in the last 10 years, it experienced a dramatic increase from 2003-04, Biniasz said.
“We routinely see pets treated for cancer and it’s not uncommon for pets to have organ transplants and some sophisticated diagnostic tests,” he said. “Because of the increasing sophistication of care you see increasing costs. People are looking for ways to defray those costs and pet insurance helps them to manage that risk.”
Biniasz predicts the pet health insurance industry, which includes about a dozen companies nationwide, will continue to grow.
“Estimates place the total number of insured pets nationwide at about 1 percent,” he said. “There’s definitely room for continued growth.”
Policy costs
Biniasz said an average pet health insurance policy costs about $30 a month for a younger dog and around $25 for a cat. Monthly premiums increase slightly—a few dollars a month every couple years—as pets age.
Deductibles typically are $50 per incident.
“We pay $48 per month per dog right now,” Renee Tarnutzer said. “We’ve had a host of health problems with both dogs, so we’ve definitely gotten our use of it (the insurance).”
The Tarnutzers, who are insured by VPI, chose a policy that allows them to take their pets to the vet of their choice and one where filing claims is easy.
“We’re very happy with the coverage,” Renee said. “I would never have a dog without dog insurance again.
“With the problems we’ve had, we don’t have to worry about what the cost is going to be and they (the vets) know we’ve got that to fall back on,” she added. “There’s still some cost involved, but it’s still a nice assurance to have.”
The value of pet insurance isn’t lost on Steven Servantez, a veterinarian at Badger Veterinary Hospital, 3113 E. McCormick Drive, Janesville. But Servantez, who cares for the Tarnutzer’s pets, estimates that less than 3 percent of the customers at his clinic buy it.
“It’s sad,’’ Servantez said, adding he sees reluctance on behalf of some pet owners to bring in their sick animals. “They wait an extra amount of time and are not doing as much preventative medicine.’’
But Servantez also had a success story.
A customer brought in a golden retriever that had eaten a landscape rock and had it caught in its intestines. After seeing the client pay an $800 bill for surgery, Servantez suggested looking into pet insurance.
Three months later, the same dog ate another landscape rock. When Servantez repeated the importance of pet insurance, the pet’s owner simply smiled and told the vet he had.
“So it was all covered,’’ Servantez said.
Still, Servantez said it’s tough to convince people that pet health insurance is beneficial.
“They don’t realize or think they’re ever going to need it,” he said. “Nobody ever thinks its worth it until they need it, and then it’s too late.’’
Recommendations
For those who are starting to shop for pet insurance, Renee Tarnutzer stresses the importance of knowing it won’t cover pre-existing conditions.
“That is one reason to make sure you get the dog on insurance now vs. later,” she said.
Also, she said, it’s important to find out if there are exclusions for genital defects, what the company’s claim process is like, plus if wellness and vaccines are covered.
Biniasz recommends anytime someone gets a new pet there be a plan for potential expenses that might arise.
“Whether that’s a savings account, a credit card, an insurance policy or some combination of all three methods, you really need to make sure what you’re going to do if faced with a large, unexpected bill,” he said. “I think the best advice is to get pets insured early and before there’s any potential pre-existing condition when the policy is most affordable.”
Plenty of people thought the Tarnutzers were nuts to spend money on pet health insurance, Renee said.
Still, she has no regrets.
“These pets are part of our family,” she said. “Why wouldn’t you get it?”
Buying tips
Similar to buying any type of insurance—human health, automobile or home—it’s never as easy as comparing apples to apples or oranges to oranges.
Consider these questionst to help figure out which pet health insurance policy is best:
-- Is the company and policy licensed by the department of insurance in your state?
-- Are congenital or hereditary conditions covered, limited or denied?
-- Are pre-existing conditions excluded?
-- Are you limited to a veterinary network or can you pick the vet of your choice?
-- Is there a limit as to how much the policy will cover?
-- Are there penalties for changing plans and deductibles?
-- Is there a choice of deductibles to fit a budget? If so, how would they affect monthly premium and out-of-pockets expenses? Are these deductibles annual or by medical incident?
-- How is reimbursement for a claim determined?
-- Is there a waiting period before coverage begins?
-- Does the insurance company offer a discount for microchipped pets?
-- Is there a multipet discount?
-- Are medical history records required to buy a policy?
-- Is there an age restriction for the pet?
-- Are there any breed restrictions with your plans?
-- How quickly are claims processed and paid?
Sources: Websites of Veterinary Pet Insurance, Pets Best Insurance, Petplan, PurinaCare.
Oct 14, 2010 at 4:19 a.m.
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Dogs and cats with health insurance while humans go without! What a country!( this is so true i am going to prefer health insurance for student whether they are collage students or school student) Its important for every one who love there children they will surely add do this policy for there kids.
http://healthinsuranceforstudents.us
Jul 7, 2010 at 8:32 a.m.
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Isn't this covered in Obamas new health care plan?
Jul 3, 2010 at 10:10 p.m.
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I seriously have to laugh. Here we are bickering about the political correctness, if you will, of pet insurance, and anyone from another country can pick up our paper and think we are nothing more than a bunch of idiots. Other countries EAT cats and dogs to survive, but not the great USA...we go to extreme measures to save the lives of our cats and dogs while our people should just go and die in the streets! Yep...what a great country we are!!!
Jul 3, 2010 at 2:29 p.m.
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Dogs and cats with health insurance while humans go without! What a country!
Jul 3, 2010 at 1:29 p.m.
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retired- if the $450 fixes the dog I may spend it but NOT $6000!! Spend $350 once for them to tell me kitty has a bad heart. They said you can spend $700 more to see exactly what is wrong plus more ?$ to fix it. Said no thanks. She is still alive and kicking and happy. I think she is 17 and they told me this 4 years ago. I wont put her through that. Even teeth cleaning at this age is a risk. No gum issues so I wont clean the teeth.
Jul 3, 2010 at 1:07 p.m.
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fool_on_the_hill, health insurance (private or public) exists in various forms in every country in the world. It is only in the United States that health costs have spiraled out of control.
Jul 3, 2010 at 12:28 p.m.
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Just got back from the vets office, 430.00 for one dog; ouch.
Jul 3, 2010 at 11:58 a.m.
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My comment had nothing to do with politics, scooter47. It was strictly a warning about the socioeconomic phenomena of insurance. The fully insured don't even consider the cost of treatments and human nature drives most of us to benefit at least as much, if not more, than we've contributed. So, as more and more people insure the health of their pets, fewer and fewer people will be able to afford any veterinary services at all. This predicable outcome is an apolitical reality of economics.
Jul 3, 2010 at 11 a.m.
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bradycarlos03, Obum will not fix the ills of our country, that idea is media hype.
Jul 3, 2010 at 10:49 a.m.
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Let's not turn this article into a political one, it is not that. Save it for an article about the government. I am with frogger. I cannot see spending that much on an animal. I love all animals but there comes a point to put them down and out of their misery. Vets are way too expensive. There is a place in Madison called "Shelter from the Storm" that does discount work on pets and even will meet you half way to get them and meet you half way to bring them back. My daughter has 3 dogs and 3 cats and she uses this service. Also my future son-in-law works at the Humane Society and they are overrun with unwanted animals. If yours is too sick or old, have them euthanized and adopt another. I would if I had any pets. JMO
Jul 3, 2010 at 9:56 a.m.
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bradycarlos03 is just a spam-puppet, folks. I requested removal.
Jul 3, 2010 at 9:55 a.m.
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This is a really, really bad idea! Health insurance is not the solution to skyrocketing healthcare costs, health insurance is primary CAUSE of skyrocketing healthcare costs.
Jul 3, 2010 at 9:53 a.m.
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I have seen many people spend thousands of dollars on pets in the last year or months of their lives. It's their money and their pets, but the pets don't seem very healthy or happy and the end is always the same. I guess that it's the same with people. Past a certain point, you are grasping at immortality in the corporeal world.
Jul 3, 2010 at 9:10 a.m.
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What a scam this is. Growing up, when the family pet got sick, we put it down and got a new one.
Instead of people paying a $1,000 vet bill every six seconds, just put the animal down and adopt a replacement.
This would solve two problems, one the health care cost and two, unwanted pets find a home.
Jul 3, 2010 at 7:24 a.m.
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whew... I need a break from trying to read bradycarlos03's post. brb.
Jul 3, 2010 at 6 a.m.
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E-Villehousewife...When you consider the risk that the insurance company is taking on, it's not disturbing at all. $800 for surgery on a pet? That probably would come close to a nurse bringing you an aspirin at one of the local hospitals.
Bradycarlos....The "obama has to fix Bush's mistakes" line is getting old. A trillion dollar stimulus along with another trillion or two for universal health care is not going to "fix" any problems. As far as your question "i wanna see one of yall do what he sas done" goes. Give me a trillion dollars to spend--I would love to have the opportunity! The free housing(at a really cool house) and the free golf at some amazing courses along with jetting around to them in my very own 747 would be one thing that couldn't be passed up.......
Jul 3, 2010 at 4:45 a.m.
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You guys should stop complaining cuz one the health care we have now isnt as good as it was supposed to be. also the law has just been signed give it a try u guys are too hard on democrats they went to college and we voted for most of these people.so if u want to say u have the right to choose tell that to ur congress men or state official. as for obama people are just tryin to make it look like america made a mistake he has done things to help us and we had a full 8 years of a terrible president and i will be so as happy as ever when a obama fixes bush's mistakes. You can find full medical coverage at the lowest price from http://bit.ly/9sfoMb obama has to put up with the wo0rld judging his every move and trying to fix the mess we are in we are lucky anyone wants to be our president. STOP COMPLAINING AND GIVE HIM A BREAK. i wanna see one of yall do what he sas done. some people are just so ignorant.
Jul 2, 2010 at 11:54 p.m.
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How disturbing. It is cheaper and easier for a pet to get insured than a human being.
Jul 2, 2010 at 7:06 p.m.
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It may not seem like much per visit, but a year's care for an aging or chronically ill pet can run close to $1000 before you realize it. So even without deciding to have (say) cancer surgery you can get into some pretty expensive territory. The thing about health insurance is that it works better the more people participate (so that the insurance company, and the policyholders, can benefit from people paying in who don't need care). It's certainly the more dollar-wise choice than crossing your fingers and hoping against a major critical care issue, but most people would probably think that the second is the frugal option.
Jul 2, 2010 at 6:10 p.m.
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hermione- true. I wouldn't spend that kind of money on a Harley either ! )
Well said. What if they do all that AND spend all this money on their pets?
I was just giving my opinion.
Jul 2, 2010 at 5:18 p.m.
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Some people spend big bucks on a Harley, a boat, a huge house or playing golf. Some people have 4 children; other people have none. We all have our own priorities and values. We all make different salaries. One animal is not replaceable with another. Who are you to judge what is important to another person?
Jul 2, 2010 at 4:55 p.m.
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I wonder if the rest of the world knows how much we americans spend on our pets. The amount we do spend is obsene. Thousands of dollars spent to fix a mutt you can replace at the humane society for far less. These people are nuts.
Jul 2, 2010 at 4:38 p.m.
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Sorry I don't have an extra(ONLY) $150 laying around to insure my pets. If my pet needs $6000 of work sorry they will have to be put down. I love my kitties but they are kitties not humans. Call me inhumane if you like. I do take care of my kitties don't get me wrong. Shots, teeth,check ups,and stupid city fees(uggh) are taken care of.
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