There was an article on AOL (sorry, I can't find the link at the moment) and another on CNN recently basically regurgitating the same message as an old Consumer Reports article - don't buy pet insurance. Instead, they recommend you put aside an amount every month to pay for your vet bills.
From the CNN article...
4. Beware pet insurance
Today you can even get pet health insurance. But be careful if you decide to invest. Only about 3 percent of pet owners carry this kind of insurance, according the American Animal Hospital Association.
With pet insurance, you'll pay deductibles, co-pays, and premiums. Plus, some treatments are excluded from coverage. Some policies also limit the amount they will pay per incident and may make you pay higher co-pays as Fido gets older. In fact, Consumer Reports suggest you skip it altogether.
Bear in mind that if you haven't chosen your lovable pooch, mutts are generally healthier than pedigreed dogs and cats. Consumer Reports says that's because the pedigreed animals may have been bred for appearance rather than good health. But Wendy Diamond of Animal Fair Magazine says that it really depends on the kind of breeder you buy from. Don't buy from a puppy mill.
From the AOL article...
SKIP PET INSURANCE
Unless you can't resist a breed with chronic problems, pet insurance will probably cost you more money than it will save you. As with human health insurance, you'll pay deductibles, co-pays, and premiums, and you may bump up against lifetime payment ceilings if you own a chronically ill pet. In addition, you might find some needed treatments are excluded from coverage. Some policies also limit the amount they will pay per incident and may make you pay higher co-pays as your pet ages.
For example, with PetCare's QuickCare Gold policy for dogs, you could pay $36 monthly premiums for coverage for a 3-month-old bearded collie. If that pooch needs $3,000 pacemaker surgery next year, you'll have to pay a $50 deductible, after which the plan pays 100 percent (up to a limit of $3,000) of your costs. Not a bad deal, because you will have paid just more than $430 in premiums. But if the surgery occurs after that dog turns 8 years old, the plan will only pay 80 percent of your costs and you'll be out about $3,500 in premiums. If you want to set aside money for future medical bills, you might do better by putting the amount you'd pay in premiums into a savings account.
Of course, I disagree. Putting aside money is all well and good if your pooch times her illness to after you’ve saved up enough money to pay for it and thoughtfully doesn’t have another illness/accident until you’ve built up your savings again.
Unfortunately, Consumer Reports is equating pet insurance in terms of budgeting, which is not what pet insurance is about. On average, no insurance makes sense as the insurer has to make a profit and pay expenses on top of pay the claims (i.e. your vet bills). What insurance does is protect you against unexpected and ill-timed spikes in expense you can’t afford and it removes the emotional life or money decision you would have to make otherwise. Savings just ain’t going to cut the mustard on that one.
Your thoughts?
There was an article on AOL (sorry, I can't find the link at the moment) and another on CNN recently basically regurgitating the same message as an old Consumer Reports article - don't buy pet insurance. Instead, they recommend you put aside an amount every month to pay for your vet bills.
From the CNN article...
From the AOL article...
Of course, I disagree. Putting aside money is all well and good if your pooch times her illness to after you’ve saved up enough money to pay for it and thoughtfully doesn’t have another illness/accident until you’ve built up your savings again.
Unfortunately, Consumer Reports is equating pet insurance in terms of budgeting, which is not what pet insurance is about. On average, no insurance makes sense as the insurer has to make a profit and pay expenses on top of pay the claims (i.e. your vet bills). What insurance does is protect you against unexpected and ill-timed spikes in expense you can’t afford and it removes the emotional life or money decision you would have to make otherwise. Savings just ain’t going to cut the mustard on that one.
Your thoughts?