Daily FI discussion thread - Wednesday, March 22, 2023

My personal experience: get it. Tl;dr I've spent about $4500 in premiums and have been refunded over 15k

Longer story:

My dog is 5.5 years old. Premiums started around $60 when he was a puppy, up to $80 a month now. This is for 90% reimbursement, $250 a year deductible, and prescription coverage.

Insurance does NOT cover preventative stuff or the visit fee. So no coverage for flea/tick/heart worm, vaccines, etc. They do ot cover the exam fee for any visits, including emergency visits. Just the visit fee. For a normal vet this is roughly $40, $25 for tech visit, and like $100 for emergency visit.

This will be a long read. I'm going to start off with my basic vet costs for the year, not including illnesses or unexpected visits/costs. Just the base line.

First, my dog has severe separation anxiety. He gets multiple medications for this. Insurance does not cover 2 of them. The one they do cover is $45 a month, $40 reimbursement. So right off the bat this brings me to $40 a month from break even, $480 a year. My dog just started a second medication, a probiotic powder that goes on his food. Haven't paid attention to the price but it's probably like $30 a month, I'll low ball at $20 reimbursement.

With just his standard medications I am reimbursed $60 a month, with my premium being $80. If my dog gets sick, diarrhea for example, those meds are not included in the math so far. This leaves me $240 from break even for the year.

Additionally, they cover blood work and lab tests, which are done once a year and generally cost around $200. If he gets some kind of illness they may do an extra one, which has happened twice. For the math I won't count it here. Reimbursement $180, leaves me $60 from break even.

Next is cytopoint, the last standard yearly cost. My dog has allergies, and gets a $200 shot once every 3-4 months. Covered by insurance. It's great, he goes from constant itching to almost none over night. For more conservative math, I'll use 4 months intervals for $600 a year. Reimbursement $540. Minus the remaining $60, it gives me $480 per year for reimbursed costs minus premiums for the year.

After the $250 deductible (at 90%, so ~$275) I have "profited" $205. This is just his standard yearly care, not including illness or injury. It's the baseline.


Onto illness and injury.

  • When my dog was almost 2 years old, he broke a couple teeth. Surgery was $900, and since he would already be knocked out the vet suggested teeth cleaning for an extra $100. I agreed. Insurance does not cover cleaning, since it's preventative. On it's own I would have had to pay for the anesthesia, but they covered it due to the required surgery. My reimbursement was about $800 on the qualified $900.

  • When my dog was 3 he dislocated his rear leg. Required x-rays, surgery, and a 2 night stay at an emergency vet. Grand total came to $8000. I paid a $100 emergency visit fee and 10% on the rest. They covered everything else. I was reimbursed over $7000. Over the next month I accrued about $250 in meds, of which I was reimbursed over $200. This event alone has refunded me more than I have paid on premiums his entire life even up to now. My reimbursement for this event will break even on premiums paid in 3 more years.

  • Various medications he has gotten for illnesses and associated labs/tests have totalled up over $3000 in his life time. For easier math I'll round down to $2500 reimbursement.

So from unexpected events I'm sitting at just over $10,000 in reimbursements. Yearly standardized costs minus deductible rounds down to $1000 per year. I'll round down his age for 5 years, $5000 total, $15k in reimbursements over his life time. Every number I used was rounded down.


I use healthy paws insurance. They are amazing .

  • No yearly or lifetime coverage limits

  • Reimbursement is easy. I use their app to take a photo of my paid invoice, click submit. Done. They email you an explanation of benefits within 2 days, and the money is direct deposited into your account like the next day. Must be an invoice that says paid.

  • They have an option to pay the vet directly and you cover the difference. I've never used it, and I think it takes a small amount of leg work up front. If needed you can always use care credit for vet visits, which offers an interest free loan. This isn't part of the pet insurance talk, just an advisory to any pet owners still reading.

  • They are, as far as I know, the only company to cover hip and elbow dysplasia. This was a huge draw for me, since I have a German Shepherd. There is a one year cool down period from the start of your policy to when they will cover it. Example you sign your dog up on March 1st 2023, they will not cover any hip/elbow dysplasia issues unless they begin after March 1st 2024. As long as no issues have appeared by then, you are fully covered

  • Customer service is great. I've called a few times with questions and they are always super helpful and knowledgeable.

  • Premiums. They have gone up $5 a month each year I've used them.

  • Deductible. It's $250 per year, not per visit/occurrence. You submit your invoice and they take 90% of covered items against your deductible. Once your 90% hits $250 for the year, they start paying you. For example, my dogs monthly meds are reimbursed at $40. At the end of the first month, my deductible is $210. The next month it is $170. And so on.

  • You can get a different deductible. They have $100 and $500 available. It will change the premiums.

  • They cover waste disposal fees and taxes on covered items.

  • Non-covered items include behavioral stuff (which is why they don't cover most anxiety meds) in addition to the stuff mentioned earlier, preventive and visit fees.

  • Premiums are cheaper the earlier you start. Insuring a puppy is cheaper than insuring an 8 year old dog. There may even be age limits for new policies, but your dog will never age out once enrolled.


Final thoughts. I can't recommend pet insurance enough. Healthy Paws has been incredible. The amount of money I have saved is insane. No they do not cover everything, but routine expenses are just part of dog ownership.

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