Pet Insurance And Reimbursement Procedures

[Siberian101]

Hi All,

Does anyone has experience dealing with pet insurance companies? I have a 5 month old kitten (healthy) and I am planning to buy medical insurance for him.

I spoke someone at my local animal hospital. The lady told me they do not directly deal with pet insurance company. I have to pay the bill in full and then try to get the reimbursement from the insurance company.

I've also received a quote from Nationwide insurance company. And the rate doesn't seem to be fair. Can anyone share your experience on shopping for pet insurance and medical bill reimbursement process? Thanks in advance.

 

[kurothecat]

I read that the premium goes up the older the cat gets. But a lot of them do the reimbursement thing. Some vets do have a preference on insurance, I don't know if you feel comfortable using a different vet though.

 

[Willowy]

As far as I know, all pet insurance companies (in the US anyway) have a reimbursement arrangement, not dealing with vets directly.

Look up as many reviews as you can find, and see which one fits your needs best.

 

[Siberian101]

There are only three veterinarian offices in my area. The one I called has the highest ratings and closest to me. I guess I can try to contact the other twos.

Thanks

 

[daftcat75]

For $1000/deductible per condition, I pay $60/mo for a 15 year old with Trupanion (in California, if rates are different geographically.) I signed her up last year in the weeks before her 14th birthday, after which they would no longer insure her as a new patient. As long as I keep paying her premiums, she'll be insured for life (and end-of-life costs too.) For nearly 9 months, I submitted claims and they would be rejected with pre-existing conditions disqualifiers. Then Krista was hospitalized for 10 days earlier this year. Racked up quite a bill. I submitted all the invoices and told myself if they reject these, I'm done with them. Well, they finally came through. Big time! Let's just say that for what they reimbursed me, her premiums are paid for life. They came through when I needed them most and that's how insurance should work.

With my vet, I believe they will try to bill insurance first if that's what you want. I always pay first and then submit for reimbursement. In my case, I'd rather deal with the expense on my schedule than on the insurance's schedule. I know my budget situation today. I don't know what it may be like when Trupanion is finished reviewing the claim.

 

[fionasmom]

I have ASPCA for Jamie and enrolled him when he was just tiny, after I found him. The reason I took out insurance is because my GSD has had such huge medical bills (and like daftcat75 I should have enrolled him at 10 years old when they wanted $100 per month because I still would have been money ahead). I have been happy with ASPCA; the vet wants to be paid up front so I work from reimbursement. The biggest procedure that Jamie has had was a kidney ultrasound which was $600 and the insurance did pay exactly what their contract said they would once the deductible was met, so I received about $550. I send in all bills to them so that they can keep a running tally, even the stuff that is not covered. They have not been hard to deal with...claim form, vet bill, and medical record for the service.

Pre existing conditions seems to be the biggest issue with pet insurance and how they interpret what was pre existing and when it became pre existing. I have posted this before on TCS, but a dear friend with a cavalier spaniel had has problems with the company whose name means that you give someone a big hug. Changed their deductible and it was a new day....everything ever done was now pre existing. They have also stipulated that they will only pay for services like an MRI if it diagnoses certain conditions.

Enroll baby cat now in whichever insurance you feel comfortable with. Think about what you might need in help if baby gets sick, or seriously sick somewhere along the line.

I pay about $20 per month in premiums, have a $250 deductible with a $5000 limit and they pay 90%. I should add that bad things can happen to our pets and these policy limits would not have been sufficient to cover my dog in his melanoma journey.

 

[daftcat75]

Trupanion has no payout limits. The deductible is per condition. But once you have met the deductible, then there are no limits. Trupanion did reimburse me for more than $5000 with that hospital stay. I wasn't expecting it. But since they have essentially paid out more than I will pay in, I will keep her covered--even if the majority of her expenses are ineligible pre-existing conditions.

 

[fionasmom]

Absolutely! You have definitely met the tipping point where it is worth it to you. I intend to keep Jamie insured for the remainder of his life and will continue to insure any new pets down the road.

 

[darkmavis]

I'm about to find out how well the reimbursements work out with Embrace Pet Insurance. I got insurance for both my cats when we adopted the newest one Ruth about 2.5 years ago. I figured, if I finally buy insurance, they'll be healthy and I'll never use it, right? But 2 weeks ago my Rose was diagnosed with a bladder stone. I'll spare details since this is about insurance. But with a visit in January for another issue and the one 2 weeks ago, I met the deductible for the year, so I'm gonna see what I need to do to submit the paperwork this week.

Anyway, the details. I decided on Embrace after reading lots of reviews and also comparing the different companies. I enrolled the cats when they were 5 and 2 years old. For each cat I picked the accident and illness plan, so not including planned costs like exams and shots and stuff. I chose a $1000 annual deductible, $8000 annual maximum payout, 90% reimbursement. I pay about $25 per month for the both of them.

Also, I submitted their most recent vet records right after signing up so I could find out what, if anything, wouldn't be covered as a pre-existing condition. Ruth came with a broken canine so any problems with that tooth wouldn't be covered, but I confirmed that the rest of her mouth would be covered if she got an infection or broke another tooth (she's a monkey cat so I wouldn't rule it out) Rose had her anal glands expressed several times because she scoots, and I think that was excluded for a year. So yeah, it's definitely best to enroll when the cat's young and healthy to minimize exclusions due to pre-existing conditions and for lower rates.

Good luck!!

 

[fionasmom]

darkmavis I get the magical thinking....pay premiums your whole life and no one gets sick, just like the car accident you never had. Jamie was in need of procedures within a year of my purchasing the insurance and it is ongoing, so I feel that it was a good idea for us.

 

[fionasmom]

So, oddly, out of the blue today ASPCA called to ask how Jamie was doing. I was waiting for the other shoe to drop....we need to tell you something about your policy, do you want to insure another pet, you messed up a claim....but nothing like that. They wanted to know if I was happy with their service and hoped that Jamie would get better.

I am not altering the policy but did ask about pre existing conditions if I were to request a higher limit. As it turns out, that would begin a whole new policy which would make Jamie's kidney issues pre existing in which case they need to be cureable and there would be a 180 day waiting period for coverage for that condition.

 

[darkmavis]

Well, I got a check for $26.10 this week from Embrace. Woooo! I dont think my vet sent in the claim from january though. I need to take Ruth for her checkup next week so I'll ask about it. But yeah, they processed my two claims from August and reimbursed what they should have. So far, so good. And knocking on wood, of course!

 

[fionasmom]

I send everything in myself although maybe Embrace won't allow that. The turn around time at my vet's office would not be good.