More pet parents getting health insurance for their 'child'

Abira, a 10-year-old Bengal cat, had her uterus taken out due to a bacterial infection, and another surgery after a cancerous lump was found in her belly. The total for both procedures — about $9,000.

“She had ringworm, too, when she was a year old and then she got it  a couple of years later,” said her “parent,” Carolina Araya, a 36-year-old Holbrook resident and human resources director for Moe’s Southwest Grill. “I’m glad we had health insurance.”

Araya is among a growing number of pet owners who have purchased pet health insurance for their animals to defray the high cost of medical care, which authorities say is skyrocketing just as it is for humans. Mostly dogs and cats are insured since they are the most popular American pets, but there’s insurance available for exotic animals such as birds, reptiles, ferrets and rabbits.

Araya pays $140 a month for her Trupanion policy, and she said it covered 90% of the cost for each surgery. The breeder recommended health insurance while Abira was young because the policy would increase in price as she grew older.

“My mother knows a woman who couldn’t afford health care for her cat, so it had to be put to sleep,” Araya said. “I wouldn’t want that to happen.”

Policies, premiums rising

According to the North American Pet Health Insurance Association’s annual State of the Industry Report released in April, about 6.25 million pets were insured in North America at the end of 2023. In the U.S. alone, that included 4.459 million dogs and 1.215 million cats. The pet insurance marketplace increased 16.7% from the total 5.3 million pets insured in 2022.

The total amount of premiums in the U.S. rose to nearly 22% to $3.9 billion in 2023. NAPHIA’s data represents “about 99%” of the policies in effect in the U.S. and Canada.

Authorities add that in addition to pet health care costs increasing, the trend reflects a change in how people view their pets these days. Pets often are considered a “child” in the family; so, meeting their health needs is important for them to have long, healthy lives.

“We treat them as if they’re our children,” said Gabrielle Brittman of her two Shih Tzus, 1-year-old Millie, and 7-month-old Lacey, whom she insures through Nationwide. The 27-year-old Dix Hills resident and accounting firm bookkeeper said she pays about $60 a month for each dog, and her insurance includes coverage for flea and tick medicine, wellness visits and shots.

“Bills can be $500 and I end up paying only about $100," Brittman added. "It gives you peace of mind. You can get proper care for your animal rather than worrying about paying the bill. I don’t know anyone [with dogs] who doesn’t have it.”

For decades, veterinarians were only able to do “basic things” for pets in need of medical attention, and getting insurance for something like a pet was considered frivolous, said Kristen Lynch, NAPHIA executive director, but today procedures such as dental surgeries on cats can be done — thanks to advances in pet health care “following very closely” those for people.

The highest claim paid out in New York in 2023 was for a 6-year-old female French bulldog from Manhattan who was treated for a corneal ulcer at a cost of about $43,300 — the sixth-highest payout of dog claims in North America. The highest payout in New York for cats was another Manhattan resident — a 2-year-old British shorthair, who had unspecified medical treatment totaling about $33,000. Lynch noted the first pet to have health insurance in the U.S. was America’s favorite pooch, television series star Lassie. She had it in 1982 from VPI, now Nationwide.

Typical coverage options for pet insurance today include accidents, wellness visits, surgeries and more, with most coverage being purchased for accident and illness, Lynch said. She noted the cost of the average annual insurance premium for 2023 with embedded wellness was $1,263.39 for dogs (about $105 a month), and $625.99 (about $52 a month) for cats. Accident and illness policies averaged $675.61 (about $56 a month) for dogs and $383.30 (about $32 a month) for cats. A “bare bones” accident-only policy was $204 (about $17 a month) for dogs and $115 (about $9 a month) for cats. 

Dogs cost more to insure than cats because they are usually larger, and are more likely to incur injury and see the vet more, authorities said.

“I was in marketing at the time when I heard about Lassie,” Lynch recalled. “I remember thinking, ‘That’s crazy,’ and people thought it was funny and really didn’t understand it. It was thought of as sort of a publicity thing.”

Lynch said the more common reaction in the past to a pet having an illness or a serious medical issue was, “ ‘Oh well, I’ll get another pet.’ Now they’re recognized as a unique part of the family.”

Pay now, or pay more later

In addition to the concept of pets being true family members, Lynch said the tough economic climate has resulted in the increase in people buying pet health insurance.

“Probably the biggest change is our relationship with the pet,” Lynch explained. “They’ve gone from the backyard and the barnyard to the bedroom. No one’s pet slept in the house, and if they did, they slept by the kitchen door ... they were mostly outside.”

Lynch said that during the COVID pandemic, people grew even more attached to pets due to being with them all day.

“Now people take their pets on vacation, to college, shopping, they’re doing social things with their pets … it’s changed,” Lynch said.

Lynch said that with people struggling financially to pay for daily necessities, the idea behind having health insurance for a pet is to prevent “economic euthanasia.” She added, “It’s, ‘I want my pet, I love my pet, I love having them around, but now my income is uncertain.’ Pet insurance is proactive instead of reactive.”

NerdWallet personal finance expert Kimberly Palmer agreed.

“The increasing popularity of pet insurance is closely related to the rising cost of medical care for pets,” Palmer said. “It can run in the thousands of dollars, and many pet owners say they are willing to go into debt for their pets, so purchasing health insurance can be a way of protecting your budget.”

Read the fine print

Palmer warned, however, that all pet insurance plans are not the same.

“You want to make sure you understand the details of the pet insurance policy because they vary widely and you don’t want to be surprised if it doesn’t cover something,” Palmer said. She said, "It’s worth checking to see if a policy covers preexisting conditions or preventive care before purchasing it.

“Most policies don’t cover either unless you add a wellness plan," Palmer added. "Some plans offer limited coverage for dental issues.”

At Dix Hills Animal Hospital, new pet parents are given a welcome packet that contains recommendations for insurers.

“We try to educate all our new pet parents, especially first-time puppy and kitten owners, on the importance of pet insurance, and advise to get it while they’re young so there are no preexisting conditions that would prevent them from coverage and reimbursement,” said Cindy Sorensen, practice manager. 

Assistant practice manager Danielle Drucker said pet owners are becoming more open to the idea of pet insurance.

“We have seen a steady increase in insured pets at our hospital for many years, more so in recent years,” Drucker said. “Our clients are more open to having conversations about pet insurance, and they are asking more questions and educating themselves.”

Protecting a member of the family

Travel agents Sheila and Chris Korte, of Babylon, said their 3-year-old Bracco Italiano, Riley Rose, isn’t just a pet to them, “She’s a beloved member of the family,” so they want to give her the best health care possible. But recently they realized her health care tab was getting too high — over $15,000 so far.

“She’s so darn smart she has people-like qualities,” said Sheila Korte, 69. “In December of last year, we got insurance for her — she was getting these big moles on her ears and had to have surgery.”

She added, “I had to pay for that expensive surgery, just under $2,000. The cost is crazy.”

Sheila Korte said that once the vet bills started piling up, the couple “got educated” about pet insurance and purchased a Fetch policy. “When she was spayed when she was 6 or 7 months old, that was about $500," Korte said. "And then she used to swallow things and we had to go to a 24-hour vet clinic three or four times. Each time was about $600, and if we did more testing it was going to be between $1,500 and $2,200.”

The Kortes’ coverage is for up to $10,000 each year, with a deductible of $700. Sheila Korte noted the deductible could be much lower, but she wanted to keep the monthly rate down. The policy is $59.22 a month with a reimbursement rate of 70%.

Marisa Moschera, 30, of Miller Place, hasn’t signed up for pet health insurance yet, but she said she’s thinking about it. She has two male sphynx cats, Leo and Jax, and said she’s “always taking them to the vet” because of the chronic conditions that come with their being hairless.

“They’re high maintenance. They have sensitive skin, so at times they get rashes, and they’re prone to a lot of other things like teeth problems and chronic ear infections,” Moschera said. “Their skin is oily, and when they lick it, they stain their teeth. I most recently took them for neutering and teeth cleaning and it was $1,000 per cat — and I negotiated the price, too.”

One broke a nail, which cost almost $400. Moschera’s bills for Leo and Jax so far have totaled around $4,500.

As a senior executive assistant for Suffolk Regional Off-Track Betting, Moschera said she’s hesitant to add another monthly bill to her list, but she will sign up for the pet health insurance if she decides it’s the best way to go.

“I’m not getting it now. I’m still in the market for it,” Moschera said. “I don’t even know if these things would be covered, and I’ve learned how to treat a lot of things at home now.”