Pet insurance is designed to cover the costs of the medical care of your pet if it gets injured or becomes very sick. Rather than being burdened by vet bills for treatment all alone, your pet insurance policy renders valuable assistance.
Types Of Pet Insurance Policy
There are three major types of pet insurance, which are:
- comprehensive (accident and illness),
- accident-only, and
- basic wellness care
Each type of pet insurance comes with different coverage, and like other forms of insurance, plans vary from one insurance firm to another. It is thus necessary to know what a particular pet insurance policy is made of before purchasing it.
Comprehensive pet insurance
If you want something that will offer the broadest coverage out there for your pet, this is what to choose. Also known as accident and illness coverage, it is the most common pet insurance plan in the United States, easing pet owners of the financial burden that comes with paying for the treatment of their pets when they are injured or medically ill.
Generally, plans under this category cover chronic illnesses and hereditary conditions as well as accident and illness-related diagnostic tests and hospitalizations. They also cover accident and illness-related medical prescriptions but don’t pay for wellness exams.
Now, features differ from one insurance firm to another, you should be sure of what you are getting before buying. Many options will only help reimburse the cost of terrible conditions if one has obtained pet insurance before their pet is diagnosed with the chronic condition.
While most plans will foot several forms of illness, including ear infections, cancer, and allergies, some policies intentionally exclude cancer. As expected, accident and illness coverage is more expensive than other types of coverage.
Accident-Only Coverage
Accident-only coverage, just as the name implies, only offers coverage for accident-related medical expenses, and isn’t designed to take care of illness-related expenses. It is the go-to option when one’s pet is unable to get a comprehensive plan for whatever reason, such as age.
Your pet may even be qualified for a comprehensive pet insurance plan, but maybe you’ve decided to only opt for affordable pet insurance – then you can subscribe to an accident-only policy.
If your pet should get injured or have an accident, veterinarian bills can quickly climb up faster than you can imagine. Accident-only coverage can come to the rescue, helping out with issues like lacerations, your pet getting hit by a car, breaking a bone, swallowing something toxic, etc. It may also cover all diagnostic tests, treatment, exam fees, and prescription medication that sprang up due to an accident.
While this is cheaper than the traditional accident and illness coverage, remember that it doesn’t cover illnesses, hereditary issues, and wellness exams.
Pet Wellness and Health Maintenance Coverage
The average cost of routine medical care for pets can be a lot when added together, thus making wellness and preventive care coverage helpful. It is usually sold as an add-on product to any of the two types of pet insurance already discussed, helping out with expenses of routine care like deworming, wellness exams, fecal tests, vaccinations and titers, parasite prevention, etc.
Some insurers only add a pet wellness and health maintenance plan to an accident and illness policy but not an accident-only plan. Generally, it cannot be purchased as a standalone policy.
Takeaway:
Millions of people around the world have a pet that means a lot to them. It is therefore important to give priority to the wellbeing of your furry friends, ensuring you have a pet insurance policy that can help cover veterinarian bills to make sure they are healthy.
If you should get comprehensive (accident and illness) pet insurance, it will provide coverage for veterinarian costs in cases of bad accidents and medical issues.
Accident-only pet insurance is useful only if the pet gets injured or gets involved in an accident, while wellness and preventive care pet policy is an add-on benefit covering the costs of routine care. Generally, one’s state of residence determines the pet insurance options available to them.