[hanksimon]

A friend has a dog that will need $400 of dental work.

Are there any insurances that are cost effective and will cover teeth extractions? I imagine these would have to be covered under existing conditions?

 

[3GSD4IPO]

If the dog has been diagnosed there is no insurance that will cover the dog for that diagnosis as it is a "pre-existing condition" which means pre-existing to the obtaining of insurance.

 

[hanksimon]

Thanks! Does that include Banfield plans, that they would exclude pre-existing conditions?

 

[DaySleepers]

Generally speaking, you have to have bought insurance before the problem happens for anything to be covered. Insurance companies would lose money if you could just buy it when there's a problem and have them pay for the procedure. In this case, your friend is better off looking into something like Care Credit, which will is a credit program specifically for medical issues and has a veterinary financing option. This will give them time to pay off the cost of the procedure, rather than having to pay a bulk sum all at once.

 

[hanksimon]

Generally speaking, you have to have bought insurance before the problem happens for anything to be covered. Insurance companies would lose money if you could just buy it when there's a problem and have them pay for the procedure. In this case, your friend is better off looking into something like Care Credit, which will is a credit program specifically for medical issues and has a veterinary financing option. This will give them time to pay off the cost of the procedure, rather than having to pay a bulk sum all at once.

Thanks!

 

[RonE]

Think about it. If insurance paid for a problem that existed before the plan is purchased, nobody would buy insurance until they needed to use it.

Oh, I totalled my truck. I'd better get some auto insurance.

 

[hanksimon]

She just checked PetAssure and they cover preexisting conditions. For all 3 of her pups, it is$149 year.
Sounds too good to be true? Any experience with PetAssure?

 

[RonE]

Pet Assure is not insurance. You pay the subscription fee and you get a discount on veterinary services- typically about 25%.

 

[Quinsation]

Pet insurance will not cover any pre-existing condition. If you know now that your dog needs dental work, no insurance is going to cover it. MOST have a waiting period and if something happens during that period, it won't be covered (other than injury).
Also, with most pet insurance companies dental isn't covered, unless you add it.

With my dogs, I don't have routine things covered because it doesn't cost any more than the insurance.
I did have routine things covered with my puppy because it would pay for all of his puppy shots, microchip and neutering. Once that is all done, I will drop that.

 

[storyist]

With my dogs, I don't have routine things covered because it doesn't cost any more than the insurance.

That was my thought too reading the OP. I'd pay the $400 out of pocket now and investigate insurance later, always keeping in mind the balance between the cost of insurance and paying your own way, maybe putting aside the cost of premiums in a separate savings account if you're the kind with enough self-discipline to do that.

Where you come out on pet insurance is when you have the really big bills - orthopedic surgery, cancer treatment, etc., and the insurance company can't deny the treatment was necessary. My single experience with insurance was that even then, it's not like they pay all costs. They're just like human health insurers in that some things aren't covered at all and for those that are they only cover a percentage. So - $3,000 TPLO (cruciate repair) surgery - first they claim it should only cost $2,000 and then they only pay 80% of that. Better than nothing, but not what you're expecting. Since I canceled the policy not long after, I did come out decently ahead financially balancing what I paid out in premiums against what I received.

Also, I once talked to a woman whose dog only survived kidney failure because the insurance company paid the cost of regular dialysis for months. The dog did eventually recover kidney function. So there was someone whose dog only lived because she had the insurance (no way she could have paid for the treatment herself).

 

[Quinsation]

Where you come out on pet insurance is when you have the really big bills - orthopedic surgery, cancer treatment, etc., and the insurance company can't deny the treatment was necessary. received.

This is correct. One of my dogs was diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma in June. She had a few rather large vet bills. I only had to pay the deductible, then 20% after that.
A friend of mine has the same insurance company I use. She has a young-ish dog that has had many injury related issues, that needed extensive vet work, MRIs, and surgery. One year the insurance company paid out over $30,000 in bills for her one dog. She wouldn't have been able to treat her dog w/o insurance.