Routine and wellness care coverage…revisited
Many of us with human health insurance, naturally assume that pet health insurance would also cover routine check-ups. This seems like a simple deduction, especially for the uneducated pet owner. See, pet insurance and human health insurance are actually very different things. Just because the word “health” falls in both names, does not mean they work the same.
In case you’re new to this blog and don’t already know, pet health insurance works more like property insurance where the pet owner pays the veterinary bill upfront and submits the claim to the insurance company for reimbursement. Unlike human health insurance, the pet owner has to do a good portion of the work to recoup money. Pet health insurance also does not (because it cannot) dictate what a vet can be charging. This is simply done using the reimbursement model.
With that said, does it make sense to have routine care covered? A while back I touched on the subject, Wellness Plans: Do they make financial sense?. With pet insurance, the process is pretty straightforward and logical (imagine that! insurance being logical!).
Pet insurance companies are businesses, who no matter what need to make a profit to stay afloat. For planned expenses (i.e. routine care), the pet insurance company knows how much those procedures will cost, about how often you would need all of them, and will need to charge the cost of the procedure plus an additional amount so that the company is making money on top of covering administration costs.
Still following?
Say, you need to get your heartworm medicine for the year. It’s going to cost, say, $100 and the pet insurance company knows this. They must either choose to only partially reimburse you, or they would essentially charge you, say, $120 to reimburse you for this medication.
If you’re still not following, let’s take auto insurance. There are a million things you can have covered for your car: collision, injury, hit and run, chip in the windshield, etc. But would you pay more so that the company also covered your oil changes? Imagine what your premiums would be then?
On the flip side, many people are aware that pet insurance companies charge extra to cover routine care but don’t mind, because they feel like that rush of satisfaction when they get their $20 check in the mail from the insurance company.
What do you think? Do you like paying almost double your premium to have routine care covered? Or is it worth it to have ‘everything’ covered, and you not having to worry about what is and isn’t covered?
it’s a toss up…and it depends on your views of vaccinations and how often you feel they are needed. I think it would be nice to offer the choice, but just based on what I have seen, it still seems as though you pay out of pocket so what you you think might by fully covered, will not be.
just a small example…an annual exam covered by insurance may cost $30 or $35, but if your vet charges $50, you are still paying to cover the difference. Same thing on the vaccinations. If a rabies shot is covered at $10 and the vet charges $15, again, you are paying the difference. I think people need to be aware of that.
I have a wellness plan through my vet and do it that way because the office visits, exams, vaccinations, certain tests are covered. I get 5% off medications too. What I pay is what I pay and I don’t pay anything additional.
Good topic…I think folks should have a better understanding of what they are paying for.