04/30/09

Does insurance cover claims outside of my normal veterinarian?
Melissa Kowalchuk

An important consideration when choosing pet insurance is if, and how much, a plan would cover you if you had to see a specialist or go to an emergency facility. Doesn’t it always happen that your pup falls and hurts himself late at night when the vet isn’t open?

This forces you to go to an emergency clinic, which typically costs a lot more. While pet insurance would more than likely cover treatment of a broken leg, how much would they cover at an emergency clinic?

Some companies will cover the same amount as if you saw your normal veterinarian, while others will lower the coverage amount. The same goes for referral specialists. Say your cat developed some kind of skin allergy and had to visit an allergist. Often specialists end up costing much more. True, this is also something that most pet insurance companies would cover, but at what cost?

Make sure that when you’re looking into insurance, that you find out if you are covered for treatments outside of your normal veterinarian.

Categorized Uncategorized.Tagged allergies, cat, dog, pet insurance, veterinary specialists.
03/11/09

Would pet insurance cover ongoing treatments?
Melissa Kowalchuk

charlee.JPGHow many of you have pets with some ongoing condition such as diabetes or skin allergies? One of our office companions, Charlee, has about the worst case of canine skin allergies that I’ve ever seen. He’s constantly fighting off hot spots, has to be careful not to be in the grass too much, and yesterday came in with a cone around his poor furry head.

As you might also be aware, treatment for ongoing conditions such as these are quite expensive! In some of my pet insurance research, I’m finding that while conditions such as these may be covered in the first year they appear, they become pre-existing (and therefore not covered) in years following. Take Charlee for example, if he had gotten insurance as a young pup, before any of these allergies were showing, then he might have had coverage for the first year.

I am finding, however, that some insurance companies require you to purchase a “continuing care” add-on. And even some of these add-ons have yearly or lifetime limits!
Have any of you had experience in getting ongoing treatment covered?

Categorized Answers & Help.Tagged allergies, cats, continuing care, dogs.