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Pet insurance can be a vital tool for helping you prepare for life's untimely accidents and illnesses. If you've signed up for pet health insurance, you probably have an accident-only or accident and illness coverage. But what about everything in between? For ongoing care of your pet, you should consider out the optional add-on of a wellness plan.
The best pet insurance companies offer their customers wellness or preventive plans that cover more regular maintenance to keep your pet's health in tip-top shape. These optional plans can cover everything from microchipping to dental cleanings, parasite prevention, annual checkups and more. If you want to be proactive about your pet's care, wellness plans might be a good option. Many of the procedures covered allow veterinarians to identify and treat health issues early, preventing disease and other health issues.
Choosing the right wellness plan for your pet may come down to convenience if you already have an insurer. However, if you're starting from scratch or considering a switch, you can have your pick of some great insurance companies that offer unique perks or flexible wellness plans. Above all, you want substantial value and quality care for your pet's routine healthcare needs.
Lemonade offers affordable wellness plans that cater to essential and advanced preventive care needs, all accessible through a highly intuitive app. With the addition of the Preventative for Puppies plan, Lemonade also provides specialized care tailored to the unique needs of young pets.
ASPCA Pet Health Insurance offers robust wellness plans tailored to dogs, cats and horses. Its plans focus on comprehensive animal care to help pet owners proactively manage their animals' health with add-ons for preventive care, dental, behavioral and pre-existing condition coverage.
Embrace offers wellness plans, known as "Wellness Rewards," that function more like a flexible fund rather than having caps on specific treatments. This allows pet owners to allocate their wellness budget toward any listed preventive care services their pets need, providing greater control and adaptability across various tiers of care.
Figo provides a range of wellness plans designed to suit different budgets and pet needs, all integrated into an easy-to-use app that boasts high user ratings. Plans offer a blend of basic and advanced preventive care options.
Best for: Flexible and high-coverage wellness plans
Hartville Pet Insurance wellness plans offer a well-rounded approach to pet care, balancing affordability and comprehensive preventive coverage. Its plans cater to a variety of pet health needs, ensuring that routine and more advanced care are both covered.
ManyPets offers a straightforward wellness plan to cover your pet's essential preventive care needs. This plan provides coverage for many wellness procedures with an annual limit of $150 for services in various categories.
MetLife offers a straightforward wellness plan that integrates seamlessly with its pet insurance policies. This plan covers a wide range of preventive care services, including routine exams, parasite prevention and spaying and neutering. Additionally, it stands out by including coverage for prescription diets — a rare feature among pet insurers.
Nationwide provides a single, versatile wellness plan that covers a broad range of preventive services for both common and exotic pets, ensuring comprehensive care.
Wellness plans provide reimbursement up to a certain amount for certain veterinary services. During the year, you can go to the vet and get reduced costs or free services like vaccinations or dental cleanings.
Pet wellness plans are available as supplementary options to pet insurance or as individual plans. Certain veterinary clinics offer wellness programs to assist pet owners in managing the costs of routine pet healthcare. These programs may only be applicable at their clinic or within their network. Not all pet insurance companies provide wellness plans or preventive care extras.
Most wellness plans through insurance companies require you to pay at the time of service, submit a claim and wait for reimbursements.
Wellness plans ease the costs of routine veterinary care, helping you protect your pet's health and making early detection of any health issues possible.
These plans typically cover various services, including vaccinations, annual exams and dental cleanings. Preventive care plans may also include coverage for flea, tick and heartworm prevention, routine blood work and screenings.
Some plans offer additional benefits such as nutritional counseling, spay/neuter procedures and behavioral training sessions. By including these services, wellness plans help pets receive comprehensive and consistent care throughout their lives.
Deciding whether to invest in pet wellness insurance depends on several factors, including your pet's age, breed and health history and your financial situation.
Wellness insurance can be particularly beneficial if you want to budget for routine veterinary care and avoid unexpected expenses. It also encourages regular check-ups, which may lead to early detection of health issues and lower long-term medical costs.
If you have a young pet or one with a history of health issues, wellness insurance might be a wise investment to ensure they receive consistent and comprehensive care. On the other hand, if you have a healthy adult pet and are comfortable managing routine expenses out of pocket, you might opt for accident and illness coverage only.
Wellness plans generally have fixed monthly costs that vary by plan rather than pet characteristics such as age, breed and health conditions.
Most companies offer a basic plan and a more advanced option that covers more treatments and has a higher limit. Pet insurance companies also often only offer wellness plans as an add-on, so you'll need to factor in the cost of your basic pet insurance plan along with the cost of the wellness coverage.
Remember that some plans may cost less but cover fewer services or have lower limits. Make sure to compare all of the options to get the best deal.Remember that some plans may cost less but cover fewer services or have lower limits. Make sure to compare all of the options to get the best deal.
When choosing a wellness plan for your pet, consider the following factors:
