Cat Health Insurance: A Layman�s Guide to Selecting a Good Cat Health Insurance Policy
It wouldn’t surprise many cat
owners that people and their feline companions have been living
closely together for at least 4,000 years. Today there are over
65 million domestic cats in the United States, meaning that pretty
much everybody knows somebody who has a cat. Cats are important
to their owners; they can be like best friends and even children,
and the health of your cat is always something of great importance.
As a matter of fact, the American public spends around $8 billion
dollars a year on veterinary bills, and a large portion of that
amount is just for cats. For this reason, it is important to
understand the importance of health insurance for your cat if
you have one, and here are a few tips to help you better understand
what a cat health insurance policy normally consists of, and
what every cat owner should make sure they include.
Do You Have a Veterinarian Preference?
If you have a preference and you want to stay with your own veterinarian,
you have about a fifty-fifty chance of being able to go with
the cat health insurance plan that you immediately select. The
reason why is that, just like health insurance for human beings,
cat health insurance plans have a preferred list of their own,
and in order for them to cover the charges of your veterinary
costs, you have to use one of their preferred providers. If your
veterinarian is listed, you’re in luck. Otherwise, you
are going to have to consider switching your insurance provider
selection or your veterinarian.
What Kind of Coverage Do You Need?
Depending on the coverage that you choose to go with and the amount
of your monthly premium, different services will be included
on the policy for your cat. Most cat insurance policies do not
cover spaying and neutering, but a rare few of them do and those
policies will probably be a bit more expensive. Many of the more
seemingly inexpensive cat health insurance policies have a list
of exclusions as long as a school bus. Flea control, dental care
and cleaning, heart worm medication and preventative--these are
all common on the exclusion lists of many cat health insurance
policies, and you might not know that if you don’t read
the fine print.
Can You Afford the Deductible?
The deductible that must be paid differs from insurance carrier
to carrier. While some insurance providers require a deductible,
some require a co pay and some require both. The idea behind
having to pay this money up front before your claim is paid is
to discourage people from making frivolous claims, and it can
certainly do that. At the same time, it can also deter hard working
people from being able to afford to file their claim. Most deductibles
are $50 per incident, while others can get much higher, up and
into the $100 range. If you can’t afford most routine vet
bills, you probably can’t afford such an insurance policy.
As a cat owner it is your responsibility
to provide your feline companion with good medical care. Protection
from things like rabies, fleas and other parasites, and even
more serious events like FIV and cancer are important, and pet
insurance makes taking good care of your pet’s health much
more affordable.
