Pet insurance may not be for everyone

A handful of companies market health insurance for cats and dogs. Before signing up for such insurance, read the policy carefully.

For example, a policy offered by Veterinary Pet Insurance (VPI) for an annual premium of $305 for a 5-year-old beagle includes:

• Limited benefits to a specified per-procedure price schedule (for example, $556 for nonsurgical treatment of a fractured leg), which might be less than some vets charge;

• Limited benefits to a maximum of $14,000 per year;

• Included a $50 deductible for each accident or illness (rather than a per-year deductible as you find in most human health-insurance policies);

• Excluded coverage of vaccinations, annual physical exams, treatment of congenital defects or diseases, behavioral problems, heartworm protection, prescription flea control, spaying or neutering or other elective procedures;

• Provided that vaccination and routine-care coverage could be added for an additional premium of $144, but that the total payout for these types of services is $250 per year.

You must decide whether what you get is worth the price. Our general view of insurance is that you shouldn't get it unless expenses would seriously disrupt your life.

Buying insurance to cover noncatastrophic expenses means you pay profit, sales costs and administrative costs for an insurance company to process bills you could pay yourself.

You also add to your own paperwork. And you pay premiums to cover a pool of other policyholders, some of whom may be more wasteful — more prone to using excessive care — than you are.

Another option is a prepaid-health plan, offered by some veterinarians. Under these plans, you usually pay the veterinarian a set dollar amount that covers specific procedures and/or vaccinations (at a discount) throughout the year.

Reprinted by permission from "Puget Sound Consumers' Checkbook," a nonprofit, no-advertising magazine that rates many types of area service firms. For the full article, additional vet ratings or a copy of the magazine, call 206-332-9696 or see www.checkbook.org.