Help with health insurance..

I decided to go ahead and get Chloe some health insurance. I work in the veterinary field, and get everything at my clinic at cost so I was debating on getting it. I get a discount on her routine care arleady (and hospitalization), but in reality we are not a specialty clinic and can't do MRI's ect. I decided to go with petplan as I get a discount with them for working in the field and their overall policy seems to be great. But I am unsure what plan to go with. The only thing I will be filing a claim for is if I need to take her to a specialist or the emergency clinic.

The bronze Plan covers up to $8,000 for $21.25 a month with a $200 deductable and covering 90% of the cost. The Silver is $23.50 a month $12,000 covering 90% with a $200 deductable and the gold is $25.93 with $20,000 in coverage, 90% paid back and $200 deductable.

Or I was thinking of doing the bronze for $23.50 a month with 100% reinbursement and $200 deductable.


So I know the cost of a average emergency, but how much is the average cost to care for a dog with SM and also the inital cost for the testing ect in the US? I can't imagine it costing more the $8,000 a year. I will probably take her to Akron Refferal Clinic for speciality if that helps.

Sherri

wholy moly. How is your insurance so cheap? Im with Embrace, and insured my 3 year old non spayed dog, and it costs 65 dollars a month (ten dollar for medication and dental) and they cover 80 percent up to 10.000

oh and, the cost for a dog with SM can be a little over 8.000 a year if it includes the surgery wit titanium mesh, MRI's , neuro visits, and meds. But the surgery would only happen once. It runs 5 to 6 thousand dollars. Initial testing would be about 2g.

I checked out Embrace and for th same coverage you have it would cost me $65 a month. The one problem I am running into, is she will be spayed and microchipped, but she is 12 1/2 weeks old so that won't be for a few more months. Yours covers a few more things then the one I would get does because of me getting at cost on a lot of stuff. I am opting out of Dental coverage and some other things.

I would definantly do surgery on Chloe if the benefits
outweighed the risk. Of course this is all theoretical as at her age she is too young to do any diagnostic testing. The signs of SM and being a puppy
Kinda run together at this age... Scratching is normal for pups growing and getting adult hair in, plus the introduction of a collar... She does have a tendency to yip alot, but she is also rough housing with a Jack Russell 90% of the time she yips. So I am sure she gets a little sore from that. So I am watching her like a hawk, but not trying to get too worrisome about these things until she gets a bit older or I see more symptoms developing
Sherri

Couple of things to note where you should ask questions or read the entire policy -

The copayment for PetPlan for emergency hospitals and specialists is different than the copayment that you select for your overall plan, so be sure to understand that you will not get 100% reimbursible for a cardiologist or neurologist even if that is the plan that you've purchased. In my state, the co-payment for specialists and hospitalization is 30% (you have no choice), therefore I purchased a plan with 30% co-payment since the large dollar vet bills are from specialists or for hospitalization.

Second, when you are choosing your coverage - either $8,000, $12,000 or $20,000 - remember that this is total yearly PAYOUT, not your total yearly vet bills. For example, let's say you spent $10,000 in one year for treatment of SM (couple of MRI's, surgery and meds). Subtract your $200 deductible and multiply 70% times the $9800 and the payout from insurance would be $6860. That is still well under the $8,000 bronze plan and you didn't spend the extra premium for the $12,000 silver plan. Also, your specialist costs in Ohio (as are mine in Atlanta) are considerably less than in NYC. So make your decision based on payout calculations, not total annual vet bills.

Another thing to keep in mind is that premiums increase every year so you want to start out as low as you can - I just got my renewal form for my 8 year old and the premium increased by over 10% which is disappointing. So multiply your premium by 10% per year and look at what it will cost when your dog is older. I've never made a claim, so the premium increase wasn't based on any claims.

Pat