lmallicoat said:
I just got a quote for my 2...I am indicisive on whether or not to go ahead with it as I am on a budget already.... :sl*p:
I have heard alot of pros...but can someone post some cons? Like turn around time to get a check? Any hassle about accidents/injuries or illnesses? Are these limited to just certain illnesses or circumstances? I have read everything on the site, I just want to know what everyone's experiences are with this.
with two, that can get costly, the premiums. i have my cat on it too but her policy is only about $25, zack's is $53. The main con is having to pay premiums and copayments.
But if your dogs get sick, it can be more costly than paying the premiums, if they need patella surgery or an MRI. Bloodwork is expensive. Everything is expensive. Zack had to go to the ER and that was $424. It was during the first 30 days, the waiting period, so it wasn't covered, but otherwise it would've been covered no problem.
Then he had another illness a few months later, pyoderma, and the bills came to several hundred. They paid everything except the copay and toenail clipping and anal gland expression. And they accidentally paid for my cat's Advantage which was on the same bill that i sent in. i didn't claim it but they mistakenly thought it was for zack.
The reimbursement turn around was a lot faster than i expected, the checks they sent me (they also paid a later claim for a scratched eyeball)
had the same date on the check that i faxed the claim, can't get any faster than that on approving the claims. I guess their processing system takes a while after that because it still took 2 or so weeks to receive the checks but they were dated much earlier.
I had one very frustrating and scary problem with them--when Zack was at the ER during the 30 day waiting period, a vet mistakenly diagnosed him with "enlarged heart." That was written on the hospital paper work which i submitted as a claim because accidents are covered in the first 30 days and the hospital said xray showed he had a foreign body in him stomach, maybe. They did not pay that claim, asking for more info from the vets, which was legitimate, the documentation was inconclusive, and by that time, i no longer beleived it was a foreign body causing the symptoms so i didn't resubmit the claim. But when they sent me my policy documents after that, it had a permanent exclusion for anything to do with the heart. :yikes even though on his records, it also shows that the radiologist said the heart was "likely within normal limits." but becuase the first vet had written down 'enlarged heart," they fixated on that and excluded heart stuff--and MVD risk was the main reason i wanted health insurance on him.
eventually i got the exclusion removed but it was not simple. I learned a lot about communicating with them from that experience. now, all is well, but for a while i was afraid he would never get coverage for his heart.
other than that, the process is very simple and works smoothly. As long as a vet writes down a simple diagnosis in a few words, even one word, they just pay it right away with no questions.
Another con would be that they insure by illness categories. the plan i have is $6000 per illness category, and there are about 10 or so illness categories. It probably will be enough to cover everything, but i would like a policy that gives you lifetime coverage as some of the UK ones do, without maximums. Sara found a plan in Canada, Vetinsurance or something like that, and they give you $14,000 to use on whatever you want, and then if you use it up, you can cancel your policy and start over, although i assume they wouldn't cover preexisting conditions. but $14,000 should go a long way. Sara was told that they do cover hereditary conditions. It's not available in the US yet.