Hello, readers!

This week, I would like to discuss the importance of pet insurance. I have been asked about this by several people the past couple of weeks. For several years, I have partnered with pet insurance companies. This has provided me with a significant amount of experience in this field. The main organization I partnered with is known as PetPremium.

Pet insurance plans vary based upon your wants and needs. With PetPremium, clients are able to choose a plan that best suits their budget as well as what they are looking for as far as coverage goes. As any pet parent knows, veterinary bills are expensive. Choosing a pet insurance plan assists you with recovering from the costs of veterinary bills whether your dog needs a regular vet visit, has an illness or becomes injured (pre-existing conditions are not covered at this time with pet insurance companies).

Basically, you can choose accident-only coverage or full coverage for your pet. You will get reimbursed a certain percentage of each bill; generally, 70, 80 or 90 percent reimbursement. You can also choose a total coverage limit. Basically, if you would like 90 percent reimbursement with a higher coverage limit, your monthly payment will be higher. In all of the cases I have seen, regardless of coverage, the monthly payments remain affordable.

Now, I usually get asked the question … is there a deductible? The deductible is also up to you as the pet parent. I have found many clients choose the higher deductible to make their monthly payment lower ($100,$250 or $500 deductible at PetPremium). Once the deductible is paid, you no longer have to worry about paying on it the remainder of the year term.

Personally, I always recommend the full coverage option. The full coverage option assists you in caring for your dog should he have an accident or become ill. The full coverage option also, in many cases, will cover alternative therapies and behavior modification treatments if necessary.

PetPremium also offers a wellness program you are able to add to your insurance coverage plan. Their basic wellness coverage adds $10 per month to your bill; the advanced wellness coverage adds $25 per month. The wellness coverage program adds many options to your coverage including heartworm prevention, flea prevention, wellness exams, fecal screening, microchip, spay/neuter, vaccinations and dental cleaning … many of the items most insurance coverages do not offer.

Why do I choose to discuss PetPremium over other pet insurance companies? Well, I know they truly care about dog owners and understand the financial need to receive the reimbursement as soon as possible. They promise to reimburse you within 30 days but I have seen the majority of clients reimbursed after two weeks.

I do not receive any commission by sharing their product with you but, as a dog lover and pet parent myself, feel it necessary to share this information with you. I am also asked on a regular basis about pet insurance because it is not information which is regularly shared in the pet world.

Before I found out about pet insurance myself, I had dog lovers contacting me all the time explaining they were unable to take their dog to the veterinarian because of the costs. Now, they are able to and feel at ease knowing if something were to happen to their dog, they are able to be reimbursed the majority of the bill.

If you have any questions at all regarding pet insurance, please feel free to contact me via my contact form at www.AmberLDrake.org or via e-mail at ProfAmberDrake@gmail.com.