With the rising costs of Pet care, Pet owners are asking more about
wellness pans and Pet insurance. There also seems to be a lot of confusion
as to what a pet owner needs or may need when signing up for a Pet
Insurance or Pet Wellness plan. In a nutshell, wellness plans cover the
annual maintenance, things like vaccines where Pet Insurance is for the
major medical conditions that threaten your pets life and often times your
wallet. The business of selling Wellness Plans occurs at the veterinary
office and is designed to promote customer compliance in preventive care
and client loyalty to the hospital. They do not work outside of the
hospital from where they are sold. Pet Insurance is universal, designed
to protect you and your pt if a major illness/injury happens. With pet
insurance, the pet owner is responsible for paying the vet bills up front
and all claims are paid to the pet owner by the insurance company after the
care is given. It is important to know that not all claims are covered, so
select your plan wisely. My thoughts are that in general, we can all
afford the basic annual care for our pets and those should be considered
normal "out of pocket" expense we budget for. I don't recommend wellness
plans because many pet owners may not need the services covered under them,
so all the "Breakage" is kept by the seller. Instead, I recommend
investing in a Pet Insurance policy at a young age, when your pet has had
no pre-existing conditions for the insurance, meaning no claim rejections.
We all can budget for general problems, but its the big issues, the
life-threatening ones that where we don't ever want to have to make a
decision about care because of our budget. I don't mind the "Breakage"
with pet insurance because like my auto insurance policy, I have it but I
hope I never have to use it.
Have Fun and Be Safe
Brett the Vet
