JuliePet insurance can be a financial lifesaver or a source of frustration, depending on the situation. Today we're breaking down the real-world pros and cons from an emergency veterinarian who sees both sides every day. From an ER vet's point of view, what are the pros and cons of pet insurance?
Dr. LoSassoWe certainly appreciate seeing clients who've already insured their pets when we have catastrophic problems — things way more expensive than people plan on: GI surgery, GDVs, really sick pancreatitis dogs, blocked toms. A lot of those end up costing thousands of dollars in our neck of the woods, and I know they can be much more expensive on either coast. If I give you an estimate for $5,000 and somebody else is paying 80% of that, it makes it a lot easier to move forward with care. We appreciate when pets are insured, though we don't really push insurance ourselves — we don't offer that kind of counseling, because by the time you've come to me, it's already too late, you needed to have insured beforehand. We do wish our colleagues in day practice discussed it more. The real use for insurance in most cases is catastrophic loss — if I'm giving you an estimate for eight to ten thousand dollars because your dog needs a splenectomy from a splenic mass and needs blood and a few days in hospital, that gets expensive fast, and it really helps to have insurance if it covers what we're doing. It's not a panacea, though — some companies now own an insurance arm, a pharmacy, and general practices all at once, similar to what's happened in human healthcare where one company owns hospital systems, physician practices, and the pharmacy. If you own the entire vertical, you have complete control over pricing, and people get stuck.
Dr. LoSassoIn pets, insurance isn't actually health insurance — your dog doesn't have health insurance, you have property insurance on your dog, and that appalls some people, they say "my dog isn't property." Well, in the eyes of the law, they are, and that's how these companies work. We don't get directly involved in filing claims, and honestly that's another reason we like insurance right now — we're completely out of the loop on it, it's a client problem, not a "me" problem. We present an invoice, and in most cases the client pays it and submits it to their insurance company for reimbursement. Trupanion and Embrace, I believe, have systems that integrate with certain practice management software so they can pay the provider directly in some clinics, which helps clients from a cash flow perspective. But I've also seen, on the Veterinary Information Network, colleagues having insurance for their own pets dropped — because the health care got too complicated, or because a long-term condition like cancer was decided to be no longer profitable to cover, so they discontinue it. That's pretty frustrating and disheartening — it doesn't always seem like the most ethical industry. Even when a vet limits the workup and doesn't submit everything for reimbursement, they can still get dropped because the pet needs specialist care a GP can't provide.
Dr. LoSassoThat kind of soured a lot of us on the insurance trade. I don't carry insurance on my own dog now — I own an emergency hospital, so if she needs care I have an easy way to provide it, it's a business expense for me, a little different than most people's situation. But if she needed specialty care — an oncologist, a surgeon — that gets frightfully expensive regardless. ER is expensive, but it's nothing compared to surgeons, or God forbid, the dentist — veterinary dentists do amazing work, but they tend to be the most expensive doctor for the procedure.
JulieThat's a real misunderstanding a lot of pet owners have — they think if they insure early while the pet's young and healthy, there won't be issues later, but to hear it can get dropped when a disease like cancer develops is horrible.
Dr. LoSassoYeah. There were, and probably still are, websites comparing pet insurance companies and what side benefits come with the premium. Do they encourage annual blood work? Because pets that get that tend to be healthier, just like people — free wellness exams matter because there's a good return on wellness care for insurers, it reduces their payout down the line. Do they pay for blood work every year, for dentistry, which is important for long life in both people and pets? Wellness offerings really vary by premium level, so it's worth comparing the numbers. It is frustrating to eventually get dropped. At the same time, I've had plenty of owners tell me "he's insured, do everything you need to do" when I lay out what's needed — that's freeing for me, I can provide the absolute best care and the client isn't worrying about a five-figure bill. So there are definitely pros and cons.
JulieWould you recommend insurance more based on how many pets someone has, or their location — near a busy highway versus a farm?
Dr. LoSassoSure — the more pets you have, if there are good wellness benefits, insurance can almost pay for itself in some cases, at least it used to when I was in general practice; you could get enough value from annual blood work and teeth cleaning to justify the premium. That part doesn't really depend on how many pets you have, but insurance is specifically per pet, not for the whole pack. If you've got eight or ten dogs or cats, you could be looking at thousands in premiums, and if you never need it, that's an expensive way to cover an entire pack. Personally, with a large number of pets, I'd lean toward putting money in a savings account so I had resources for whichever one needed it, rather than insurance on all of them — the return on that expenditure may not be there.
JulieWhat about breed — does that factor in?
Dr. LoSassoWe do tend to recommend that anybody with a doodle gets it insured — that's breed profiling, but we see a tremendous amount of GI foreign bodies in all the doodle breeds. Labradoodle, Bernedoodle, Sheepadoodle, Aussiedoodle — for some reason they really like eating socks, and I can't fully explain it. We don't see it in standard Poodles, not as much in other breeds, though obviously any Labrador or Golden can do it too. Whether it's because we just see so many doodles or there's some psychological predisposition to not being able to help themselves, I encourage people — when they bring in a six-month-old doodle after we've induced vomiting to get a sock out before surgery was needed — this is going to happen again. You may as well start hedging your bets.
