If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Health insurance?
I'm in the process of adopting two 1-yo cats from the local humane society.
My last cat had many health problems in the last 5 years of his life, and I spent a lot of money caring for him. My employer offers a 5% discount on VPI pet insurance. The monthly cost of VPI's "Superior Plan" for two cats would be about $25. That amount includes a second 5% discount for multiple cats, as well as riders for cancer and routine care. But I was looking at the schedule of benefits, and it's not that generous. For example, on routine care, VPI only pays $65 for dental cleaning. Most vets charge a lot more than that, given that the procedure requires a general anesthetic. I just spoke with a VPI customer service representative. She told me that there is no "once-in-a-lifetime" exclusion. When asked, she said that I could cancel the policy at any time, but that VPI could never cancel on me. I don't believe that statement for a minute. I'd like to hear the pros and cons about health insurance from people that have experience with the policies, particularly those offered by VPI. Thanks, Rich |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Health insurance?
mdsu wrote:
I'm in the process of adopting two 1-yo cats from the local humane society. My last cat had many health problems in the last 5 years of his life, and I spent a lot of money caring for him. My employer offers a 5% discount on VPI pet insurance. The monthly cost of VPI's "Superior Plan" for two cats would be about $25. That amount includes a second 5% discount for multiple cats, as well as riders for cancer and routine care. But I was looking at the schedule of benefits, and it's not that generous. For example, on routine care, VPI only pays $65 for dental cleaning. Most vets charge a lot more than that, given that the procedure requires a general anesthetic. I just spoke with a VPI customer service representative. She told me that there is no "once-in-a-lifetime" exclusion. When asked, she said that I could cancel the policy at any time, but that VPI could never cancel on me. I don't believe that statement for a minute. I'd like to hear the pros and cons about health insurance from people that have experience with the policies, particularly those offered by VPI. Thanks, Rich I made a mistake. The monthly cost would be $25/per cat. So that's $50/month. Rich |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Health insurance?
In ,
mdsu purred: mdsu wrote: I'm in the process of adopting two 1-yo cats from the local humane society. My last cat had many health problems in the last 5 years of his life, and I spent a lot of money caring for him. My employer offers a 5% discount on VPI pet insurance. The monthly cost of VPI's "Superior Plan" for two cats would be about $25. That amount includes a second 5% discount for multiple cats, as well as riders for cancer and routine care. But I was looking at the schedule of benefits, and it's not that generous. For example, on routine care, VPI only pays $65 for dental cleaning. Most vets charge a lot more than that, given that the procedure requires a general anesthetic. I just spoke with a VPI customer service representative. She told me that there is no "once-in-a-lifetime" exclusion. When asked, she said that I could cancel the policy at any time, but that VPI could never cancel on me. I don't believe that statement for a minute. I'd like to hear the pros and cons about health insurance from people that have experience with the policies, particularly those offered by VPI. Thanks, Rich I made a mistake. The monthly cost would be $25/per cat. So that's $50/month. Rich Probably be better off taking the $50/month and depositing it in a pet-only, interest-bearing savings account (make sure you get one that has no penalties for closing/withdrawing funds). That way the money is YOURS, and not in somebody elsses wallet, and there are no stacks of forms to fill out if you need to get to it. |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Health insurance?
"mdsu" wrote in message ... I'm in the process of adopting two 1-yo cats from the local humane society. My last cat had many health problems in the last 5 years of his life, and I spent a lot of money caring for him. My employer offers a 5% discount on VPI pet insurance. The monthly cost of VPI's "Superior Plan" for two cats would be about $25. That amount includes a second 5% discount for multiple cats, as well as riders for cancer and routine care. But I was looking at the schedule of benefits, and it's not that generous. For example, on routine care, VPI only pays $65 for dental cleaning. Most vets charge a lot more than that, given that the procedure requires a general anesthetic. I just spoke with a VPI customer service representative. She told me that there is no "once-in-a-lifetime" exclusion. When asked, she said that I could cancel the policy at any time, but that VPI could never cancel on me. I don't believe that statement for a minute. I'd like to hear the pros and cons about health insurance from people that have experience with the policies, particularly those offered by VPI. Thanks, Rich I have never had health insurance for my cats, but I did look into several policies shortly after I adopted Duffy. I decided that the costs outweighed the benefits (but I do think you could find policies that cost less than the $50.00 for two cats that you mentioned in your second message). Many policies cover only certain listed procedures, and many have an unrealistically low "cap" on costs. So, I decided to self-insure. I opened an interest-bearing account in the credit union *exclusively* for Holly and Duffy. I make a monthly deposit and have never used the account because it is intended only for emergency pet expenses, not for routine exams and procedures. I adopted Duffy 3-1/2 years ago and have made deposits almost every month since that time. This means that I did take some risks if one of the cats had become ill before I built a balance in the account, but I think this is a much more effective way to care for them than using pet insurance (especially if your cats are healthy and relatively young when you begin making deposits). MaryL |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Health insurance?
I have done the pet account with my bank Each of the furballs get 50 a
month added to their account. I do this just in case I need the extra money for them for whatever even though I can afford the bills with ease. I ma always looking to the future. I ran into one problem with the accounts. I received credit card offers and Junk mail for Rumble and Spirit with my last name. Plus just recently one for Ka'Shay I am almost tempted to look up their credit scores. I contacted the credit bureau and the card company the supervisor thought I was kidding. |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Health insurance?
Matthew wrote:
I have done the pet account with my bank Each of the furballs get 50 a month added to their account. I do this just in case I need the extra money for them for whatever even though I can afford the bills with ease. I ma always looking to the future. I ran into one problem with the accounts. I received credit card offers and Junk mail for Rumble and Spirit with my last name. Plus just recently one for Ka'Shay I am almost tempted to look up their credit scores. I contacted the credit bureau and the card company the supervisor thought I was kidding. Thanks everyone. Self-insuring makes a lot more sense. And that's exactly what I'll do. Rich |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Health insurance?
"Matthew" wrote in message .. . I have done the pet account with my bank Each of the furballs get 50 a month added to their account. I do this just in case I need the extra money for them for whatever even though I can afford the bills with ease. I ma always looking to the future. This to me makes a lot more sense than paying for insurance you may never use, Matthew. Great idea. I ran into one problem with the accounts. I received credit card offers and Junk mail for Rumble and Spirit with my last name. Plus just recently one for Ka'Shay I am almost tempted to look up their credit scores. I contacted the credit bureau and the card company the supervisor thought I was kidding. lol -- Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
Health insurance?
On Fri, 22 Sep 2006 13:32:24 -0400, mdsu wrote:
I'm in the process of adopting two 1-yo cats from the local humane society. My last cat had many health problems in the last 5 years of his life, and I spent a lot of money caring for him. My employer offers a 5% discount on VPI pet insurance. The monthly cost of VPI's "Superior Plan" for two cats would be about $25. That amount includes a second 5% discount for multiple cats, as well as riders for cancer and routine care. But I was looking at the schedule of benefits, and it's not that generous. For example, on routine care, VPI only pays $65 for dental cleaning. Most vets charge a lot more than that, given that the procedure requires a general anesthetic. I just spoke with a VPI customer service representative. She told me that there is no "once-in-a-lifetime" exclusion. When asked, she said that I could cancel the policy at any time, but that VPI could never cancel on me. I don't believe that statement for a minute. I'd like to hear the pros and cons about health insurance from people that have experience with the policies, particularly those offered by VPI. Thanks, Rich Insurance companies exist to make money so the payout on average will be less than the premiums, plus they make some money investing the premiums. If you're the type of person that can pay those premiums into your own account, that's going to be the better deal in the long run. |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
Health insurance?
Thanks for bringing this up. I have considered pet insurance since I
have seven cats. All are in good health and still fairly young (oldest two are 10 years old). I had never thought of opening a separate account for my cats, but that sure is a good idea. Why pay someone else when I can pay myself? As somebody said, insurance companies are in the business to make money and pay out less in premiums. Never is it more true than with pet insureance. You pay $50 per MONTH and they only want to fork out $65 for dental? There is something definitely wrong with that! I had one cat spayed, five dentals, X-rays, and blood work done on two of my babies a few months ago and it cost me $788.00. Fortunately, I had a mobile vet so all of that was done in my driveway. Not having to crate up six cats and take them to a vet was worth every dime. Even if I had had pet insurance, I doubt it would have been much cheaper. Deeanna dgk wrote: On Fri, 22 Sep 2006 13:32:24 -0400, mdsu wrote: I'm in the process of adopting two 1-yo cats from the local humane society. My last cat had many health problems in the last 5 years of his life, and I spent a lot of money caring for him. My employer offers a 5% discount on VPI pet insurance. The monthly cost of VPI's "Superior Plan" for two cats would be about $25. That amount includes a second 5% discount for multiple cats, as well as riders for cancer and routine care. But I was looking at the schedule of benefits, and it's not that generous. For example, on routine care, VPI only pays $65 for dental cleaning. Most vets charge a lot more than that, given that the procedure requires a general anesthetic. I just spoke with a VPI customer service representative. She told me that there is no "once-in-a-lifetime" exclusion. When asked, she said that I could cancel the policy at any time, but that VPI could never cancel on me. I don't believe that statement for a minute. I'd like to hear the pros and cons about health insurance from people that have experience with the policies, particularly those offered by VPI. Thanks, Rich Insurance companies exist to make money so the payout on average will be less than the premiums, plus they make some money investing the premiums. If you're the type of person that can pay those premiums into your own account, that's going to be the better deal in the long run. |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Why do Pets Get Pet Health Insurance? | [email protected] | Cat anecdotes | 1 | December 13th 05 06:32 PM |
Why do pets get Pet health insurance? | [email protected] | Cat health & behaviour | 1 | December 6th 05 04:51 AM |
Why do pets get Pet health insurance? | [email protected] | Cat community | 0 | December 4th 05 11:49 PM |
Help my kitties' owner get $1,000 worth of health insurance free | calaf | Cat anecdotes | 6 | April 8th 05 08:02 PM |
Health Insurance For Cats | Cat Protector | Cat health & behaviour | 9 | December 6th 04 11:23 PM |