Pre-existing conditions: revisited
I wanted to touch on the term pre-existing conditions, as it seemed to spark some good comments in my previous post about payment reimbursement . Household dictionaries define the term as “to exist previous or before” – pretty vague. And, as I’ve explained before, each pet insurance company has their own way of defining or utilizing the term.
The over-encompassing term amongst pet insurance providers states that they will not cover conditions which existed before the policy term. Ok. I can live with that. Or can I? Sure, if my cat gets diabetes tomorrow and then I got to get insurance the next day, I wouldn’t expect them to cover any of the medications. However, if she’s covered when she develops the diabetes, then my policy renews in 6 months from now and suddenly they won’t cover the diabetes anymore, that’s not cool!
Let me pull out my common sense really quick and say that that doesn’t make sense! If there was no lapse in coverage, and the condition was covered, how the heck could it *magically* become pre-existing?! Now, don’t be fooled by the companies who will claim to give you the option to have these things covered. Oh, I hear my common sense again, “They should be covered in the first place! Why would I want to pay more to have something covered that should already be covered?”
As fellow pet owners, I would love to hear your take on the situation and share your stories. How do you think pre-existing conditions should be define? Keep in mind here, pet insurance companies have to place limits somewhere or they’d have to charge ridiculous premiums or go out of business.
Following up on my pre-existing woes from the last discussion. It’s official. VPI denied the tests and bulla osteotomy surgery that Kira had in January as pre-existing due to an eye infection she was treated for on September 24th. Which was 6 days before the policy was effective but 3 weeks after she was approved for the policy. I had spoken to my regular vet about it and she thought that it would be ridiculous to deny an inner ear issue because of an eye infection from 4 months ago. I’m not sure what the qualification are of the people who decide what defines pre-existing to them but I would expect my vet to be better qualified. I will give VPI credit that it is pretty easy to cancel your policy online. Just 3 clicks each and all five policies are DONE! But that’s the only thing I am giving them credit for.
Sandy posted a comment on February 5th, 2009 at 4:32 am
“I will give VPI credit that it is pretty easy to cancel your policy online. Just 3 clicks each and all five policies are DONE! But that’s the only thing I am giving them credit for.
Hahaha! Sandy you crack me up. I guess at least they make something easy? I’m wondering if VPI has some sort of claim dispute process. For example, the company that I work with will send disputed claims to a 3rd party group of very well-known veterinarians to review the claims and the company will then go with whatever decision they think is right. And, there have been many cases where claims go from being denied, sent to this group, and then approved. I’m not sure if this is something you could do now that you’re cancelled, but it may be worth looking into!
Out of curiousity, do you plan on looking for another insurance company now? Or did VPI taint your view on pet insurance?
Melissa- I plan to put the amount that was being paid in premiums into a special savings account with a debit card to be used for vet care ONLY. I will direct deposit from my payroll so I won’t even notice the money just like I did with the insurance premiums. Other than Kira’s current condition there isn’t anything wrong with the other cats that a new company would consider to be pre-existing but I just don’t have the patience to try again. I guess you could say my view on pet insurance has been tainted although I am sure there are other companies that would not be like VPI. Once I have all of the written denials, I will submit an appeal and I will be submitting the full file with the denials to the insurance commissioner in my state. I would like them to be aware of VPI’s bad service even if there is nothing they can do for my specific case.
Wow Sandy, I’m really impressed that you plan on taking action – good for you! If anything comes of it, please let us all know.
I also really appreciate your story, as I think it’s important for other pet owners considering pet insurance to hear real stories like this (even if they do have a negative outcome).
If you ever are considering pet insurance again you know where to come to for questions!
Question – I’ve had my dog at several different vets after moving for various reasons. I’ve basically been shopping around for a good vet. So if I sign up with pet insurance do all those vets have records somewhere they can see??
What I’ve always heard of people typically doing is grabbing their veterinary records before moving, and handing them over to the new veterinarian. No, there is no type of database for pet records, and just as with human dental and health care the new veterinarian will probably request the old records from any past veterinarians anyway. Either way, pet insurance companies will want to see records for as long as you’ve had the pet. My advice, regardless of whether or not your get pet insurance, would be to make sure that your current vet has all of your pets’ records for the sake of your pet.