And the Best Pet Insurance Award Goes to...
- Travel With Bindu
- Jan 20, 2023
- 5 min read
Two days ago, we officially signed the paperwork to adopt our 7-year-old foster baby, McCovey. I mean - look at him. He was destined to be a foster fail from the minute he stepped through our door 🥰
Covey's adoption checklist
We have an abundance of supplies (leashes, harnesses, beds, bowls, toys) from the past 8 years with Benji and Dolce, so we don't need anything extra. See? It TOTALLY wasn't a huge waste of money to buy multiple of the same dog collar in different season-appropriate colors 😜
Now, onto the serious stuff. These are the things that we need to do now that he's officially a family member:
Get him on better food. For the last 2 weeks, we've been feeding him kibble mixed with a bit of Just Food For Dogs. I dislike kibble, but we kept him on it in case his adopter preferred dry food. Now that he's ours, he can upgrade to the same frozen fresh diet as Benji!
Get his microchip registration transferred to us
Purchase pet insurance
A full vet visit - physical, blood test, dental cleaning
Allergy testing for food sensitivities. This is not super necessary, but we have an extra test.
Is pet insurance necessary?
I get this question a lot and highly recommend that you get pet insurance if your budget allows it:
- Even if your dog is young and healthy, accidents can happen
- If you discover a major illness while uninsured, it will be considered a preexisting condition and won't be covered if you decide to purchase insurance at a later date. It's best to get your dogs insured while they're still healthy.
Our current pet insurance
We are insured with Nationwide. Benji has the My Pet Protection With Wellness Plan which costs $730.47 annually. It pays for 90% of everything (accidents, illness, routine exams, end-of-life care), up to $7,500 a year, with a $250 deductible. That means that we break even at $1,062:
($1,062 - $250 deductible) x 90% = $731
We go over this amount (and hence save money by having insurance) every year. His annual dental cleaning alone costs around $450. We LOVE this plan and would 100% put Covey on it, but it's no longer available for new enrollments. Frankly, I'm not surprised. It was too good to last 😅
We looked through several other alternatives and here's what we found.
All prices listed below are for McCovey, a healthy 7-year-old Yorshire Terrier / Shih Tzu mix, 19lbs.
Available plans:
Major Medical:
$596.92 annually with current customer discount / $808.44 annually without the discount
Accidents and illnesses only
$250 annual deductible, after that, covered up to the maximum limit for each condition as listed here
Major Medical with Wellness:
$812.52 annually with current customer discount / $1,024.44 annually without the discount
Same as above, plus up to $500 for wellness visits as listed here (check under "Pet Wellness Plus Plan")
Our thoughts:
🚫 We don't like the idea of coverage per condition. As senior pet parents, we are used to visiting the vet multiple times a year regarding the same condition. This plan would be terrible for that. For example, we recently discovered that Benji has a tiny heart murmur. He did a cardiac workup ($1,300) and wore a Holter monitor for 24 hours ($750). This plan would only cover $1,010 of both charges.
Available plans:
Pets Best provides a lot of flexibility in terms of pricing. There are 32 different combinations of annual limit, deductible, and reimbursement levels. For each combination, you can choose between:
Essential (accidents and illnesses treatment)
Plus (the above, plus exams related to accidents and illnesses) - our preference
Elite (the above, plus rehabilitative treatment like acupuncture, and physical therapy)
Being the crazy person that I am, I did the math and calculated the breakeven point for each of those combinations. It looks like this:
The first column shows the annual limit (aka the maximum insurance will pay, you can choose between Unlimited and $5,000), annual deductible ($50 - $1000), and reimbursement level (the percentage of the vet bills insurance will cover, from 70-90%).
The most expensive plan (Unlimited coverage / $100 deductible / 90% reimbursement level) has a higher breakeven point.
The lowest breakeven points are:
With a $5k limit: $250 deductible / 90% reimbursement level. The Plus plan for this combination costs $720.24 annually
With Unlimited coverage: $500 deductible / 90% reimbursement level. The Plus plan for this combination costs $597.48
Wellness is separate and costs an additional $192 or $312 per year, depending on which option you choose.
Our thoughts:
✅ We like the accident and illness coverage, but the wellness coverage isn't great. The benefits listed are inflated, as you won't need to get all of them done each year.
Available plans:
You can choose any deductible amount between $0 and $1,000. There are no caps on accidents and illnesses, and they have a flat 90% reimbursement level.
I am not crazy enough to calculate the breakeven for every deductible amount, but Trupanion is expensive compared to the same plan at Pets Best. Unlimited coverage / $500 deductible / 90% reimbursement level costs $1,502.88.
They don't offer pet wellness coverage add-on
Our thoughts:
🚫 Expensive
Available plans:
Pumpkin offers a flat 90% reimbursement rate, with the option to choose between 3 annual limits ($10k, $20k, or unlimited). Annual deductible ranges from $100 - $1,000.
The Unlimited coverage / $500 deductible / 90% reimbursement level plan costs $1,050.36, much higher than the comparable plan at Pets Best, but they cover additional things like behavioral issues and prescription food.
Preventative care add-on is available for $227.40 annually, which covers an exam, blood test, fecal test, and 2 vaccines.
Our thoughts:
🚫 It's awesome that prescription food is covered as it can get quite expensive. It could be an excellent choice for a dog with behavioral issues or a chronic disease that requires a prescription diet. McCovey is neither so we will pass.
Available plans:
Spot is very customizable in terms of annual limit, reimbursement rate, and annual deductible
A plan comparable to our Pets Best choice (Unlimited coverage / $500 deductible / 90% reimbursement level) costs $1,050.36, same as Pumpkin.
Wellness add-on is available for $119.40 (fewer inclusions) or $299.40 (more inclusions) annually. Neither option seems worth it.
Our thoughts:
🚫 Expensive
Available plans:
Lemonade is highly customizable when it comes to coverage, deductible, and reimbursement level. Pricing is extremely competitive. They don't offer unlimited coverage, but it goes up to $100k, which is virtually unlimited.
I did the same exercise to calculate the breakeven point, and the $5k coverage / $250 deductible / 90% reimbursement level came out ahead.
However, $5k cap is too low for my comfort level. If we went with Lemonade, I'd likely choose the $50k coverage / $250 deductible / 90% reimbursement level option, which costs $563.04 annually. We likely would never reach the $50k, but peace of mind is worth the extra $78 per year.
Similar to other plans, the preventative care add-on isn't worth it. They also don't cover dental illnesses.
Our thoughts:
✅ Pricing is very competitive, however dental is not covered.
OUR DECISION
We decided to go with the Unlimited Coverage / $500 deductible / 90% reimbursement level plan from Pets Best. Lemonade is a tempting runner-up with comparable coverage at much cheaper prices, however, we prefer having dental illness coverage.
After our request is approved, there is a 14-day waiting period before our benefits kick in. We can't wait to get all the wellness exams out of the way for Covey!
I hope this analysis is helpful for new and existing pet pawrents. Getting your pets insured is a great decision and I applaud you for caring so much about their well-being! We wish you and your babies a happy and healthy 2023!