How to Find Affordable Pet Insurance
Many pet owners struggle to afford the cost of their dog or cat’s vet bills. Fortunately, you can find affordable pet insurance for your family member with the right insurer and policy. In addition to deductibles and reimbursement levels, the age of your pet and your local area’s average vet costs affect the price of your premium. However, avoiding preventable medical expenses can also help keep your pet’s bill down. Preventive care can include vaccinations, annual wellness checkups and heartworm and flea prevention, which can all cut down on expensive medical bills down the road.
The best affordable pet insurance offers a variety of coverage options, including accident-only policies, and accident-and-illness plans. These can offer a lower annual limit than illness-only policies, but will still cover things like broken bones and incidents where your pet swallows something it shouldn’t. Some policies also offer a ‘per condition’ excess, which is a fixed amount you pay for each covered incident that exceeds the annual limit, which can save you money if you’re paying large vet’s bills.
Embrace Pet Insurance offers a wide range of deductible and reimbursement choices, which helps you customize your policy to fit your budget and needs. Its affordable policy covers routine visits and other diagnostic tests, including blood work, urinalysis, X-rays and CT scans. It also covers emergency and hospitalization expenses, as well as prescription medications and supplies. Embrace is one of the few pet insurance providers to offer a diminishing deductible benefit, which shaves $50 off your deductible for each year you don’t file a claim. Its affordable premium prices, short waiting period for accidents and two-day waiting period for illnesses make it a good choice for many pet parents.
Healthy Paws offers a single plan that includes alternative therapies such as hydrotherapy and massage, and it doesn’t impose annual or lifetime limits on its policy. It also allows you to pay your vet directly with a direct payment option, which can help reduce the cost of pet insurance.
State Farm is a popular choice for families with multiple pets because it allows you to bundle your car and home insurance with pet policies, which can sometimes save you money. The company also provides discounts for multiple pets and for paying annually, which can lower the overall cost of your premium.
Some companies require you to declare any pre-existing conditions when you purchase a policy, which can raise the price of your premium. Others will refuse to cover those conditions, or might only cover them at a reduced rate.