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insurance?

we luv lexi

Well-known member
can anyone suggest a good insurance plan?
i have info from the ASPCA, i saw on here that alot of you really like petplan, i checked it out on their website and said they dont offer coverage in my state (florida)
so is there any plans out there that you are satisfied with?
thanks in advance for any suggestions! :)
 
can anyone suggest a good insurance plan?
i have info from the ASPCA, i saw on here that alot of you really like petplan, i checked it out on their website and said they dont offer coverage in my state (florida)
so is there any plans out there that you are satisfied with?
thanks in advance for any suggestions! :)

We have PetPlan here in NC. Some people have mentioned that they (in the States) have Embrace and really like it, too,...I don't know much about it, but it's probably worth checking out...
 
insurance

I use Pets Best for my great danes and will get a policy for my new puppy as well. They pay 80% after the deductible. I've gotten my moneys worth so far with just one surgery from a swallowed toy.
 
We have Embrace insurance and have been pleased with it so far. We haven't had to use it much because Ruby has never really been sick or injured. We met the deductible this spring because Ru got a little sick and was on some of the recalled food, and I freaked out. Other than that, we haven't had to use it. The people I've corresponded with were WONDERFUL and very speedy with my plan info. It's definitely worth checking out! Hope this helped!! Oh, and I think our monthly payment is not quite $30, and we got a discount because she was micro-chipped and spayed.
 
i've had Petcare for years. I'm very satisfied, i've had several claims and they generally pay without any hassle. I've had it on zack his whole life, for two years. i've had it on my cat fluffy for probably at least 10 years but have never made a claim. I just made my first ever claim for her and they sent me a letter saying they need her medical history, which didn't surprise me, but i'm not sure how i'll handle that because she was a healthy indoor cat and didn't go to the vet during the whole time i've had her on the plan, so i need to call them. I like them though as insurance companies go. They have a variety of coverages. for zack i have 100% after a $50 per incident deductible and i've been very happy with that though the premium is high. but it gives me peace of mind when he has needed medical care. it's that much less stressful not worrying about the cost.

PS--the thing i didn't like about Petplan was that they do have a 100% choice like Petcare but unlike Petcare, it only applies to your regular primary vet, not specialists or emergency hospital after hours. Even if you pay a higher premium for 100% coverage, if you need a specialist or emergency room, the copay is 30%. But it's possible that the premium for Petplan is less than Petcare. I would rather pay the higher premium and not have to think about cost if zack needs emergency care or specialist.
 
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I have Embrace and I'm pleased with them so far. They cover all genetic and hereditary conditions which a lot of companies don't and as we all know with Cavaliers this is the most important coverage to have. Everyone I worked with there has been very nice. I already got reimbursed for one claim very quickly and I just submitted a claim for Bella's pancreatitis which was a $1500 bill. So far - ABSOLUTELY worth the monthly costs!
 
We have Pet Care for Miles, and we just submitted a few bills for reimbursement for a bladder infection, so I will let you know if they cover what they are supposed to cover. Miles is also currently on prescription food, and I believe they cover 30% (?) of that cost, too...We'll see! I know that they DO cover congenital/hereditary conditions, which was very important to me. I think we pay $32/month,although I don't remember the details of the coverage right now :rolleyes:
 
Just switched to PetPlan last week. Was with PetCare but liked the coverage of PetPlan better.
 
The key thing is to check whether the insurer covers *hereditary conditions* as these are probably the most important, and potentially most expensive, source of health issues for the breed. MVD, syringomyelia, eye problems etc are considered hereditary.
 
Just an update; I agree with all everyone else has said. We just got reimbursed by PetPlan for Bianca's surgery. They ALSO did NOT charge us another copay because they considered it part and parcel of her recent MRI-neurology claim. They just sent us a check for $2400; the surgery was $2800. Not bad.
 
I e-mailed PetPlan and they are coming to my state in early 2008. The Embrace looks VERY appealing. Now I am trying to decide, do I buy Embrace now, or wait until PetPlan comes to Florida and then compare them?
 
Brought Brady to vet yesterday just get him checked him over and she recommended insurance as they are prone to heart murmurs and heart problems from about 6 or 7 and said it was well worthwhile. She said it could save thousands so am going to organise €17.50 a month I think she said - she filled out his health declaration with a "clean" bill of health.
 
In Ireland, I strongly recommend Petplan insurance for all my rescues, when I home them. Half of all cavaliers will have a heart murmur by age 5 and the rate is almost sure to be significantly higher from breeders who do not cardiac test their breeding stock and follow the MVD protocol. Sadly almost none in Ireland do (many will say with duplicity that they 'heart test' but they mean their vet listens to hearts -- whoop de do -- this isn't heart testing and most vets cannot hear early onset murmurs in dogs under 5 so it means zilch unless they cardiologist test, and most breed their dams and sires at age 1, long before they should be if they follwoed the MVD protocol). I am convinced that this is why there seems to be such a very high rate of cavaliers deaths in cavaliers between 5-7 years old here. :( The national club doesn't support heart testing at club events, or encourage it. It is absolutely infuriating. I am tired of going to talk to families about getting a rescue cavalier who tell me they 'just lost theirs at age 6 to heart problems'. No records are kept but I would be willing to bet that Irish early death rates from MVD are higher than in any other country. :mad: It is really sad when vets have to advise that a breed will get an old dog's disease at a middle age -- that says everything.

Petplan will also, as of this time, pay out for SM treatment as well.
 
I got my new policy (renewal) from Petcare last week. They apparently have eliminated the 100%/zero copayment option. My new policy will only cover 90% and they have raised the per incident deductible to $100 from $50, all for the same premium i was paying, so they have reduced their coverage. It's still pretty good but I see that PetPlan does offer the $50 deductible and 0% copay, for the same premium i'm paying on PetCare. And, the coverage is $12,000 a year (at the highest coverage level option), whereas with PetCare, it's $6000 per illness category and a lifetime limit of $72,000. I don't think that PetPlan has a lifetime limit, not that someone would pay $72,000 during the life of their dog--unless you wanted to get into the still experimental mitral valve replacement which i think could cost that much.

As i said in my other post, i was put off from PetPlan only because on their website, in hard to find fine print, it said (as recently as when i posted about it on this thread) that the 0% copayment was only for primary care vet visits, while after hours emergency care and specialist visits had a 30% copayment. That's quite high, and was a deal breaker for me. But now, i don't see that on their website, i tried very hard to find it. It was hard to find before so it may still be there and i haven't uncovered it yet. Anyone who has PetPlan, Cathy?, do you know anything about whether they still have that 30% copay for emergency room and specialists? Barkleigh Bianca's mom/dad, did you have a 30% copay for the MRI or any of the specialist care? If they paid $2400 out of $2800 (good!), what was the $400 that you paid on the surgery? Was it a copay or deductible?

thanks for any info. I'm definitely considering switching because the premium is pretty identical, and the $12,000 a year is a lot better than Petcare's $6000 per illness category.
I was happy with Petcare because of the zero copay and $50 deductible, and their prompt payment of all my claims. I will have to keep them for my cat because she's 15 and i don't think there's any plan that would take her as a new client. But for Zack, i'm ready to switch, but don't like the idea of paying 30% in an emergency.

One other thing i remembered, for people who are shopping for insurance, there is also vetinsurance.com, it's canadian, sara barr has it, they don't have it in my state yet (CA); they do have it in some parts of the US. I wasn't able to figure out how to pull up their plans on the web just now, but i remember that one thing i liked about it was, they have $20,000 a year coverage and it was renewable, like if you used it up, they let you renew it and start over, and they have a 24/7 phone line where you can talk to someone, and they cover all cavalier conditions. Their minimum copay option was 10%. I dont' remember what the deductible was.
 
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