Is Pet Insurance A Scam?

I recently spent $9,000 on my dog Georgia (AKA Beans) because of health issues—would I have been better ahead if I had pet insurance? I run the math to see, and provide some tips for how you can get the most bang for your buck if you decide to get pet insurance for your furry friends.

This show is a production of Morning Brew and is produced by Henah Velez and me, Katie Gatti Tassin. Devin Emery is our Chief Content Officer. Our video editors are Christie Muldoon, Sebastian Vega, and Nichole Friedman. Additional fact-checking comes from Kate Brandt.

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00:00 Intro
00:24 Analyzing the pet insurance quote
03:30 Pet insurance costs and stats
04:33 Getting the most bang for your buck
06:39 Ideal age to insure pet
08:14 How pet insurance works
08:43 Bottom line
09:20 Outro

[anniem]

Stay away from Lemonade. I got it for my cat, and when I needed to use it, they went back into her entire medical history to find anything that could be used as a pre-existing condition to deny the claim. At that point, I realized that they would never cover anything and cancelled the insurance.

[annmelendez]

I think it's better just to put $50 a month in a high-yield savings account and when you need it for your pet you can get it from there. You'll get more money in the long run because your pet isn't going to the vet every month..

[DanTheVeterinarian]

Fun video! Thanks Katie. As a veterinarian I have started recommending pet insurance to pet parents with how prices have gone up so much. My two cents: Make sure you get at least 10k covered or unlimited by the insurance company.

[TomShim]

I just didn’t want to have THE TALK with my family if a $10k+ emergency happened. The peace of mind and peace in the house are well worth the premium in my book.

And wouldn’t you know it, a $12k emergency surgery was required a few years ago. 90% covered, $2700~ out of pocket, and no delay in our decisions to save our pets QoL. Happy family; priceless.

The single incident covered 9.5 years of premiums. Also will help pay for eventual need for senior care, medicines, special dietary needs, etc.

[schubser]

Only buy insurance for situations that have the potential to financially kill you. Buying insurances is a loss in average (that‘s how insurance companies earn money). So, from a statistical standpoint, buying only makes sense if the worst case scenario ruined you. From my perspective, pet insurance is a bad deal. If I need an emergency fund anyway because of the long processing times, then I am able to handle the costs and do not need the insurance.

[jared_does_hardmoney]

Nice breakdown, also not surprising! The nature of insurance is that you pay a premium for someone else (the insurance company) to maintain the majority of risk. It really doesn't matter if it's a house, care, or a pet. If you have sufficient funds, your best bet is keeping liquidity on hand and paying yourself an ear marked amount as 'self insurance' every month. A lot of real estate investors will completely drop their home owner's policy once their portfolio is large enough because they no longer need someone else to carry the risk for them, they can pay themselves and set the $ aside in a bond or high yield savings fund

[catherineshock]

I think you have to know yourself - like if you aren't going to save $ every month for pet emergencies. I have pet insurance on my cat with a monthly $19.14 premium with $250 deductible and 80% reimbursement (much cheaper than a dog!) and just spent $3200 on 48 hours in the ER because she chewed up an Advil. I was so glad I had pet insurance. Even if I add up the 4 years of premiums I've paid plus the deductible I saved a thousand dollars.

[mallorygraf]

As a dog owner for quite a while...pet insurance is a gamble. I've had dogs for years and I have l looked into pet insurance and in my experience some dogs only need to go to the vet for their yearly check ups...like my two poms who never got ill until the very end of their lives and then there was my Ziggy who was a mixed breed and cost me so much due to one thing or another (early arthritis, diabetic, eye surgery to remove cataracts and on and on) that I know I put a couple of vet techs through college. What was best for me was getting a credit card(with low interest rate) that I only used for the dogs and their expenses. I did save money in the long run because my poms never truly got sick until the very end...so paying insurance for 3 dogs would not have been cheaper for me at all.

[sponge]

I would like to add a couple of things. I've had Healthy Paws pet insurance for my Golden Retriever for about 7 years now. Overall, I've been very happy with the insurance. However, if you decide to get insurance for your pet, I suggest getting it when you pet is as young as possible. I started my policy when my pup was 8 weeks old so any conditions that he has currently would not be considered "pre existing". If you wait until your pet is older, ANY issues that they've gone in to see the vet for previously will NOT be covered (at least through Healthy Paws). Maybe other insurance policies are different so do your research.
Another factor to consider is the yearly premium increases. When I first got the policy, I believe I was paying less than $20/mo. My current premium 7 years later is almost $90/mo so the increase is considerable.
I will say that any claims that I have submitted (submitting through the app is really easy) have gone through the review process very quickly! Typically within 5 days so I'm really happy about that.
So, I'm happy with the policy overall but make sure you read the policy terms before you decide.

[thesuzyday]

Been looking into pet insurance but curious about the denied claims...thanks for starting the convo and running these numbers!

[mallorydawson]

I use Lemonade for dog insurance and a nice benefit is that you are reimbursed almost immediately in some cases and others within a week, so a very quick turnaround. That said I think it also depends on where you live. If you live in NYC, the costs for vaccines, vet visits, etc are higher in general so insurance tends to cover less of the total. I tracked every vet visit expense last year with our Lemonade puppy coverage and ended up saving ~$190 with insurance (no major accidents, these were all pretty regular check ups/tests/vaccines), so I learned that it would have almost evened out having vs not having. Overall I like having the insurance for peace of mind in case a large unexpected event happens.

[morsumbra]

Totally a scam. My cane corso ended up having pancreas failure, and has to eat Pancreas enzymes from now on(thankfully easy fix.). Insurance denied the whole thing through n through other then her initial visit.

-They said it wasn't a medication at first. But a dietary supplement...

-They said Pre-existing conditions aren't covered...

-They said alternative treatments were available(a synthetic pancreas enzyme that cost way more.)

-They literally pulled everything US Healthcare did in the 90s and early 00s.

PUT THE MONEY INTO A MUTUAL FUND and have it make you money until/if you need it instead.

[The_Woof_Pack]

Got it, don’t waste money on pet insurance. Make monthly investments payments for Fido and if there’s an emergency pull the money out.

[bendybunny]

If you put in claims your premiums will increase. Also if your pet gets diagnosed with a disease your premiums increase.

[shannon]

I would not recommend Nationwide pet insurance. Worst experience with pet insurance provider I have ever had. I will be sure to never recommend them to any friends or family. Billed me for almost 6 months for my Dog George, and when I finally needed to use the insurance I had to jump through 50 hoops only to get denied on some BS. Do you research and find a more reputable provider.

[alblack]

Cruel but true growing up the only pet insurance my dad had was a shovel and a bare spot in the backyard...

[Comedy-Cult]

Trupanion has a unique setup - you pay toward the deductible ONCE in the lifetime of the pet - but each issue has it’s own deductible (dental / hips / etc.)

[radolfkalis]

My dog, no health issues, clean bred with a certificate of health, had monthly premium more than DOUBLE when she hit 7. I could not afford 350 a month, so I dropped it.

[MrSoccerface]

Thank you for the information. I have a 8 month Akita Inu, over the five month that I had him, I paid over $1500 to Vet for various small health issues and vaccinations. I wondered if I was better off if I bought pet insurance in the beginning. The quote I got was $300 annual deductible, $5000 annual payout, and 80% reimbursement rate, and the monthly premium is $90.22, which is insanely high for an Akita Puppy. Akita definitely make the top list for most expensive dog to insure. Even the cheapest option with high deductible is $65 a month. I would never know he would have this many issues in the puppy hood. I think I will make my decision after he reaches 1 year out, and pay any potential vet fees myself.

[unic.]

Great informative video with real data! I loved that you didn’t recommend a specific insurance company. More credibility! Good job!