mheath0429 wrote:

Heather, have you thought about trupanion - they paid 90% of Delilahs vet bill and I didn't have deductible. For both dogs, I pay 83.00 total.

I talked to someone from Trupanion, and you pay less because of the state you live in. And in general, dogs that are older cost more to insure. Also, breed also makes a difference in cost.

So for me, Pet Plan cost less. I just gotta get Storm on Pet Plan because I believe Len mentioned they have an age cut off of 8 years.

Exactly, I would have gone with PetPlan if my dogs had been older - thankfully I got cato insured before 5 months and Delilah before she hit 2.

mheath0429 wrote:

Exactly, I would have gone with PetPlan if my dogs had been older - thankfully I got cato insured before 5 months and Delilah before she hit 2.

Lucky you also live in a lower cost state.

cmanding wrote:

mheath0429 wrote:

Exactly, I would have gone with PetPlan if my dogs had been older - thankfully I got cato insured before 5 months and Delilah before she hit 2.

Lucky you also live in a lower cost state.

True, you can thank Detroit for that - the economy is crap. Sadly, I don't live in a low cost city. Livonia veterinary care is ridiculous.

A quick pitch for me and who ever............ if you decide to go with Pet Plan, let me know so I can give you my last name, I get a gift card for referrals. (yea I'm greedy at times)

Here4thePics wrote:

A quick pitch for me and who ever............ if you decide to go with Pet Plan, let me know so I can give you my last name, I get a gift card for referrals. (yea I'm greedy at times)

You got it!!...and you ain't being greedy! You should get the referral!

mheath0429 wrote:

cmanding wrote:

mheath0429 wrote:

Exactly, I would have gone with PetPlan if my dogs had been older - thankfully I got cato insured before 5 months and Delilah before she hit 2.

Lucky you also live in a lower cost state.

True, you can thank Detroit for that - the economy is crap. Sadly, I don't live in a low cost city. Livonia veterinary care is ridiculous.

Oh, Megan! I just re-read my post, and I didn't mean to sound as if you lived in a low cost city - I hope you didn't take it that way! My apologies!!! I just meant that Michigan's cost of living in general is lower than Colorado....so sorry!

I went back and forth as well regarding pet insurance. My first thought is that it was better to just keep a savings account for emergencies instead of paying premiums and hoping they cover it. I compared VPI with ASPCA insurance because those were the 2 most well known that I found.

Then I got a second pup and was rethinking insurance. I could afford to save for one dog, but if 2 got ill I would be bankrupt, plus when I went through my employer VPI offered a 5% discount, and another 5% discount for the second dog. Plus it is payroll deducted pre-tax, so that’s nice.

For Nikko, who is 8 months old I just got the basic plan for accidents and illness. It does not cover hereditary or pre-existing conditions and has an annual limit of 7,000 with a $500 deductible. For Yukon, since I have not yet been to the vet I added the Wellness plan, so I can get reimbursed for the vet visits and his neuter. I plan on canceling that after the first six months. The wellness plans are not cost effective for just the annual vet visits after the initial visits are done. It is less than $22 per paycheck, or $47 per month for both of them.

I just wanted something just in case something major happened. The down side is that you still have to pay up front and wait to be reimbursed. I wished that it worked more like people insurance, but oh well

cmanding wrote:

Here4thePics wrote:

A quick pitch for me and who ever............ if you decide to go with Pet Plan, let me know so I can give you my last name, I get a gift card for referrals. (yea I'm greedy at times)

You got it!!...and you ain't being greedy! You should get the referral!

Most likely leaning towards Pet Plan also so I'll let you know!

cmanding wrote:

mheath0429 wrote:

cmanding wrote:

mheath0429 wrote:

Exactly, I would have gone with PetPlan if my dogs had been older - thankfully I got cato insured before 5 months and Delilah before she hit 2.

Lucky you also live in a lower cost state.

True, you can thank Detroit for that - the economy is crap. Sadly, I don't live in a low cost city. Livonia veterinary care is ridiculous.

Oh, Megan! I just re-read my post, and I didn't mean to sound as if you lived in a low cost city - I hope you didn't take it that way! My apologies!!! I just meant that Michigan's cost of living in general is lower than Colorado....so sorry!

Lol not how i took it at all - Detroit is much lower in cost - freaking livonia is expensive as all get out, probably due to it being in the top 20 safest places to live.

Ok, so i'm kind of stupid when it comes to insurance stuff How does the co-pay work for doggie ins? My vent charges $35 just for the visit. So they would reimburse me for that? Depending on the company that is.

I know ours doesn't reimburse for that.

The deductible is usually PER incident or illnesss - some have an annual deductible

MelissaI wrote:

Ok, so i'm kind of stupid when it comes to insurance stuff How does the co-pay work for doggie ins? My vent charges $35 just for the visit. So they would reimburse me for that? Depending on the company that is.

In general, the fee the vet charges for a visit is not covered, and nor is the typical stuff such as vaccinations. Pre-existing conditions also are not usually covered.

Typically, you chose your deductible and the percentage you would like the pet insurance to cover.

For example:
Say you brought your pet in for an accident and it needed x-rays, minor surgery and Rx medication, totaling $5000. And say you chose a deductible of $500 with a 90% coverage plan. This means that you would pay the $500 deductible, leaving you a balance of $4500. This balance is then calculated at 90% of which the insurance would cover, $4050. The remaining 10% which is $450 is what you would still pay. Of course, you would still need to pay the vet upfront for the entire bill of $5000. So in the end, the insurance company would pay you back $4050 out of the $5000 vet bill.

Pet Plan will pay for your exam fees as well with the higher coverage.

Heather! wrote:

Pet Plan will pay for your exam fees as well with the higher coverage.

One of the reasons why I'm favoring Pet Plan. However, I do want clarification on this - unless you know - does that include the routine office fees that gets charged when you do routine check-ups? Or just the office/vet exam fee when you bring in your pet when they are 'sick'?

In short, Pet Plan:
Petplan policies provide coverage for all treatments recommended by veterinarians, including*:

Hereditary, congenital and chronic conditions
Prescription medications
Diagnostic testing
Veterinary exams, including specialized exams
MRI, CAT scan and ultrasound imaging
Non-routine dental treatment
Alternative and holistic therapies
Surgery
Hydrotherapy
Specialist treatment, including cancer treatments and more

Just so guys know, we also have Pet Assure - its 25% off all vet services at certain vets and our conventional vet is in it - not to mention i get 20% off on all kinds of websites, including EZY dog and 15% off Petfood direct everytime - pretty cool It's 13 a month for ALL the animals.

I know this is old but just wanted to mention my prices so people can compare. I went with VPI. I pay like $43 a month that includes wellness which i might not keep for $12 a month. There is a $100 deductable for the whole year. Most insurances are per incodent per year. Also they cover hip disp after uve been a member for a year. So i got koda in young.

Of course I can only speak for Germany, but around here pet insurance is wasted money, you pay alot of money for it and still there are alot of important things that they don´t pay for in the end.

Trupanion includes hereditary disease - and HD!!

So, I still haven't gotten around to it!
But Storm is going to be 9 yrs old in May, so I HAVE TO do this before then at least for him.

Here's 2014's picks if anyone is interested:

http://www.consumersadvocate.org/pet-insurance/best-pet-insurance.html?matchtype=e&keyword=pet%20insurance&adpos=1t3&subid=google&gclid=CKfzhael1LwCFckWMgodx38AKQ