A pet health insurance policy provides for all of the pets’ medical care fees. The medical care includes the lab tests, X-rays, prescriptions, surgeries etc. Such policies enable you to make health care decisions for your pet based on what the veterinarian recommends. You do not have to worry about the costs of the treatment. It can reduce the need to put a pet to sleep rather than spend money on it to provide treatment.

Some of the benefits that a pet insurance provides are payment for all types of veterinary care, health checkups, immunizations etc. There are a variety of plans provided by various companies in the US. While choosing a pet insurance plan, all the options should be studied and the best plan should be chosen. A well chosen plan can provide you with a peace of mind.

There are two different types of plans in the pet health insurance. One is the discount plan and the other is the comprehensive plan. Naturally the discount plan only offers a discount on the veterinary services and related pet services for an annual fee. A comprehensive plan provides complete cover for any medical care services as per the plan. Some companies offer a choice of veterinarian. Some of the other benefits of pet health insurance are coverage on neutering, spaying and prescription. Most of the pet insurance companies, in their plans, offer immediate payment of the medical bills when your pet meets with an accident.

Some of the companies that provide pet medical health insurance are Veterinary Pet Insurance (VPI), Petcare and Petassure.

Petcare provides coverage for things that you are unable to pay for, like catastrophic illnesses and accidents. It does not have any upper limit on the age upto which pets can be insured. Petcare does not provide insurance for routine check ups, shots, heartworm pills etc.

Petassure provides insurance for all pets, animals of any age and also any pre-existing health condition. The plan provides a 25% discount on veterinary bills and 10-30% discount on food. The only criterion is that you have to use a participating veterinarian and a participating food, grooming and training supplier. There is no waiting period in this plan as there are no health check-ups, approval processes required.

VPI does not offer coverage on pre-existing conditions. It covers sterilization and cancer.

There are quite specific policies offered by some companies. One of these includes death benefits. In this type of plan, if a pet dies unexpectedly, then cover is provided for replacing the pet. You can also get coverage on illnesses and accidents that happen while you are traveling with your pets.

To get a quote, it is better to work with an agent or the company themselves as you can discuss with them the various plans and choose the one that best suits your pet, rather than the website.

This article was contributed by Prerna Mordani.

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