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Articles > Pet Insurance > Dog Insurance

Dog Health Insurance & Pet Health Insurance

Ear infections. Broken bones. Diabetes.

Dog health insurance helps pay for your dog’s unexpected injuries and illnesses you may not otherwise be able to afford.

Making veterinary treatment decisions based on improving your senior dog’s quality of life -- not on money -- is something all owners hope to do.

Yet only three percent of dogs in the U.S. are covered by pet health insurance, according to the most recent survey by the American Pet Products Association.

Part of the reason for the low numbers might be cost. Six out of 10 dog owners with pet insurance spend $250 to $499 on coverage annually. The rest spend less than $250.

About a dozen companies’ nationwide sell pet health insurance but each policy is different, with some treatments and ailments either uncovered or not fully reimbursed including pre-existing or hereditary conditions. It's definitely a bit tougher to find affordable senior dog insurance based on the fact that many older dogs have pre-existing conditions.

Most policies, however, cover routine preventative care including vaccinations and dental cleanings.

How does it work? With most policies, owners choose their veterinarian, pay the bill and then get reimbursed from the insurance company, after deductibles are subtracted. It seems simple and straight forward.

Yet a Consumer Reports article published in 2003 said the pitfalls to pet insurance are in the fine print.

The magazine advocated starting a savings account to pay for unexpected veterinary bills instead of buying pricey pet insurance. From the article:

Indeed, buying a policy may end up increasing a pet owner's total expenditures on veterinary care by thousands of dollars, according to our analysis of five plans. That's because on top of deductibles required by all the insurers, plus any co-pays, unreimbursed costs, and exclusions--all of which you pay out-of-pocket--you also pay premiums. Seemingly small $11 to $50 per-month premiums can add up to $2,000 to $6,000 or more over a pet's lifetime.

"That's quite a bit of money to shell out ‘just in case,'" says Dr. David Lee, a lecturer on practice management at CornellUniversity's College of Veterinary Medicine. "A lot of pets go for many years living a long healthy life without ever needing a $1,000 to $2,000 procedure."

Even with its critics, there are plenty of satisfied owners who credit pet insurance with saving their animal’s life.

Sally Benson of Grand Junction, Colorado is one of them. When she lapsed into a diabetic coma a few years ago, her German pinscher, Thor, came to her rescue by dialing 9-1-1, a skill Benson had taught him years earlier.

Then, three years later, when Thor was diagnosed with thyroid cancer Benson knew she had to repay him. “I couldn’t put my dog down,” said Benson, a Veterinary Pet Insurance policy holder.  “I decided to do everything I could do to help him.”

Today Thor is cancer free.

~ Staff, SeniorDogs.com

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- Caring For Your Senior Dog. Find information about health insurance, medicines, allergies, arthritis, and other topics about your senior dog.