As a veterinarian with over 30 years of experience, I am often asked by my clients as to whether or not pet insurance is a good option for them. They are often surprised to hear that my answer most of the time is “No”. Veterinary economists have found that well-meaning pet parents often times spend far more money on expensive and unreliable pet insurance than if they were to just set aside $20 a month for veterinary expenses.
Although this tends to be the rule, there are exceptions. Insurance premiums are often lower for younger pets, which means that insurance plans for puppies and kittens may be beneficial in the short term. If some kind of catastrophic accident occurs that results in costly medical expenditures, then it might be worth it to have insurance. A car accident can result in thousands of dollars worth of surgery, and insurance can help to lessen the financial burden. However, as your pet ages, premiums rise and become costly, while insurers often find excuses to avoid paying out for a claim. Oftentimes, insurers will try to claim “pre-existing conditions” to avoid paying out for a claim.
Many insurance companies are now dropping elderly patients who have had insurance for many years, entirely, despite their promises of lower, locked-in rates if insurance was purchased when the pet in question was younger. In the eyes of insurance companies, elderly patients are no longer financially lucrative. The insurance industry makes billions of dollars a year by taking in more money than it pays out. In human medicine, it has become the norm that insurance companies dictate how and when medicine is practiced, and it is no surprise that they are trying to bring that same model into veterinary medicine. It is for these reasons that I strongly counsel my clients against purchasing insurance. The insurance industry should have no place in determining how veterinary medicine is practiced.