Pet insurance

[cactuspancake]

I don’t know if I mentioned this before but Franz came up on his 60th day of being with me so he was eligible for pet insurance with VPI. Unfortunately he got denied! They are also the only company that does it for bunnies. It’s because of his medical history. The $7000/year coverage would’ve really helped….  I’m so upset. They said he needs a year of records now to be considered. That’s so far from now! I hope nothing else comes up because he’s starting to get mad expensive. I didn’t expect to put away a few thousand a  year on a bunny >.> hopefully when they talk to my vet they will change their mind…

[jerseygirl]

I know. There is so little on insurance for rabbits. And as you know, further limitations when there is “pre-existing conditions”. You’ve had some bad luck! There is Care Credit which some members have discussed that may help. This may help with anymore unexpected expenses.
http://www.carecredit.com/vetmed/

[MayaConsuelo]

I briefly considered buying insurance for my cat and rabbit once my other cat got sick… but I realized having insured pets would be ridiculous since I haven’t had health insurance myself in 10 years…
Pet insurance, as far as I can tell, is similar to buying private health insurance for people. You pay a certain amount every month, and then if there’s a catastrophic event or a hospital visit, uh-oh they don’t cover it. My good friend is a vet and doesn’t recommend it. If you have emergency vet bills and can’t afford them, the best you can hope for is the Care Credit mentioned above, which I believe waives interest for a year or so.
If you want to take good care of your pets it’s possible, like it’s possible to take care of your human family, without insurance. The system is severely broken and hopefully going to change soon.

[cactuspancake]

This insurance covers EVERYTHING except regular visits an nail clippings. It covers scheduled appts, all mediations, all treatments, even chemotherapy and acupuncture. It’s reccommended specifically by the house rabbit society, and Ellen, the HRS educator has it for her four rabbits and says it’s great. It ONLY $12/ month forever!! They won’t drop if sick/aged/injured. The dif between this and human is that you pay and then get reimbursed, and I don’t mind paying a 2k vet bill up front to get it back if that means my bunny will be ok. I really think it’s great and they’re not out to get you since the policy is all inclusive. They just talk to your doctor! I think everyone should look into it! If I had it earlier I would’ve gotten the $500 of treatments I cut off of his vet bill to save money… Check it out it’s VPI and they talk about it on HRS.

[cactuspancake]

Hey I just looked at care credit and it does the same thing as my credit card… It’s just no interest/ fees if paid off within 6/12/24 months. I guess that would be good for someone without good credit for a low rate card. I think I will clip nails for a bunny emergency savings acct lol

[jerseygirl]

The insurance could be good……but not when the main thing causing big vet fees is classed as pre-existing. Bit hard when somethings happen when they’re so young like Franz. If you go ahead with the insurance, I just hope anything major in the future doesn’t get related back to his current condition. I good relationship with your vet should help negotiate insurance I suppose. Hopefully Franz won’t be having any more trouble.

[LizzyBunny]

My sister just got pet insurance for her dog and she is paying $15 a month and it covers accidents but not illnesses. You can pay more for more coverage obviously. I’m definitely considering it for Thumper, shes already had an incident with a bleeding foot and she’s very reckless lol

[cactuspancake]

If the previous injuries/illnesses have been deemed cleared up (like his coccidia) if he gets coccidia AGAIN it IS covered. They won’t cover you if currently on meds so all but chronic illnesses count as new and are treatable. I asked all these questions and scenarios because I was skeptical.

[jerseygirl]

Oh, that’s good then. : )

[MayaConsuelo]

Hmm maybe I will look into it since the HRS recommends it. I think from what I’ve heard, people have problems with coverage – but they may likely be people who bought insurance after their pets got sick, and then are stuck in the pre-existing condition situation.

Maybe it’s worth it – does it cover general checkups (aside from grooming and nail trims?) Because if so, I’d be paying $12/mo. which is $144/year, and one checkup a year is half that, which would be covered… then any extra future costs would make it worth it (they add up SO FAST.)

[cactuspancake]

It doesn’t cover check ups BUT if you make an appointment and say something like “I think my bunny’s mostly ok but I wanted to check out this (eg) “eye crust”” then the appointment is covered.

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