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More firms offer pet health insurance
Employees must pay the full cost themselves
BY CANDICE CHOI The Associated Press

    NEW YORK — At a time when employers are scaling back on costly health benefits, pet insurance is gaining popularity as an employee benefit.
    Veterinary Pet Insurance, the nation’s largest pet insurer, saw its corporate accounts balloon from 15 to 1,600 in the past six years. About 15 percent of Veterinary Pet Insurance’s policies, or about 50,000, now come from its corporate accounts.
    The growth of this perk comes as pets occupy an increasingly prominent place in the American home. According to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association, pet owners spent an estimated $9.8 billion on veterinary care in 2007, up from $7.1 billion in 2001.
    Pet owners are spending more on sophisticated care to give animals some comfort or a few extra years when illness strikes. The cost of a surgical veterinarian visit was $453 for dogs and $363 for cats in 2006, the most recent figures available, but treating a pet for an illness like cancer can cost several thousands of dollars.
    Pet insurance is still relatively rare, with only about 2 percent of pets in the United States insured. Another major pet insurer, PetHealth Inc., expects that figure to grow to about 10 percent over the next decade as options for animal medical care grow. PetHealth, based in Oakville, Ontario, saw revenue from all policies jump to $4.3 million in the third quarter, up 12 percent from the previous year. While corporate accounts are growing, the vast majority of policies are still signed up through veterinary offices, retail outlets and animal shelters.
    Noninvasive procedures like MRIs, CATscans and endoscopies have become relatively common for animals, with many pet owners looking to screen for illness early on. Though rare, owners can now even get organ transplants and pacemaker surgeries for cats and dogs.
    “Veterinary science has grown in leaps and bounds. Treatments and therapies that were not available are now available,” said John Warden, vice president of insurance at PetHealth. “There’s an alternative to euthanasia, but it costs money. That’s immediately led to the issue of insurance.”
    For employers, offering pet insurance doesn’t cost a dime, since employees pay the full cost of the benefit, unlike health insurance for humans, where employers typically shoulder most of the cost. Workers typically get a discount of 5 or 10 percent if pet policies are obtained through their company.
    Only a tiny fraction of employees typically sign up for the benefit — usually less than 5 percent, according to Veterinary Pet Insurance. But with big names like Comcast Corp., Home Depot, the Walt Disney Co. and Sprint offering the benefit, policies add up.
    “It’s really taking a very holistic view of employees,” said Patty Friedman, a senior health care strategy consultant for Watson Wyatt Worldwide, a personnel consulting firm. “It falls under the whole umbrella of protecting your financial well-being for you. [Employers] want to make things easy so you have one less thing to worry about.”
    Voluntary benefits like pet insurance are becoming more common at a time when American workers are feeling the sting of scaled back health benefits for people. According to the Kaiser Foundation, premiums for family coverage have increased 78 percent between 2001 and 2007 and companies that offered health benefits dropped to 60 percent of employers in 2007 from 69 percent in 2000.
    For most companies, pet insurance is simply a way to help employees at no cost to the bottom line.
    Del Monte Foods Co., based in San Francisco, started offering pet insurance a little over a year ago. Only about 15 or 20 employees have signed up for it so far, but the benefit makes a statement about the company’s greater corporate culture, said Paul Berg, Del Monte’s vice president of compensation and benefits.
    “Nobody’s going to leave or stay because of it. But it shows we understand that pets are just a very, very important part of the family,” Berg said. The company’s rollout of pet products in recent years also made it a natural fit, Berg said.
    Bobbie Stanton, a 55-year-old employee at Del Monte, signed up her two Shetland sheepdogs right away.
Having had to pay to treat her previous dog’s mouth cancer, she knew the financial toll an illness could take. She had to borrow $3,000 from her parents to have the tumors removed.
“The alternative was to let him die, and I couldn’t do that,” she said.
Stanton now pays $313 a year for each of her two dogs. She recently paid $20 to have a burr removed from one dog’s ear; the cost without insurance would have been $200. Depending on the age and type of animal, costs for pet insurance typically range between $10 and $40 a month. Pet owners typically pay up front for vet bills then are reimbursed by insurers.
    Pet insurance isn’t for everyone, however. Unless your pet’s breed is prone to chronic illness, Consumer Reports says pet insurance might cost more than it saves.
    The consumer group warns that necessary treatments may not be covered and that policy holders might bump up against lifetime payment ceilings for chronically ill pets. Some policies might limit how much they pay per incident and others might require higher copays as pets age.
    Whatever the means may be — pet insurance, a savings account or any other financial plan — the key is to simply plan ahead for medical care as with any other member of the family, said Dr. Thomas Carpenter, president of the American Animal Hospital Association.
    “That way you won’t have to make difficult decision in times of duress,” he said.

What do you think of this Joann?  We had a little pit bull/ hound mix we had to put to sleep 2 1/2 years ago because she had cancer.  She was only eight years old, because of that as well as our love for her we "treated" the cancer and took her for chemo treatments, blood work, etc.  If I remember the cost was $1,500 to $2,000.  That aside and regardless of insurance we would probably not do it again.  Because of their metabolism and the increased rate of aging the five or six months we kept her alive was like four or five years to us.  We would take her for chemo and she would be so sick I didn't think she would make it through the night.  Usually by the middle of the next day she would perk up and by the day after that she was chasing her ball and our other dog.  This would only last a short time or until her next treatment.  She didn't understand, she didn't know what was going on, she was terrified when we had to go to the vet, sometimes she would look at me as if to ask me what the hell I was doing to her.  People can be told and they understand what is going on, dogs can't.  Long story, short I think we kept her alive to make us feel better and to keep her around a little longer.  I don't think, if you consider the quality of life we did her any favors.  I would not do it again........ok, probably not.  I feel as though I would have paid ten times more than the cost of treatment in premiums.  Also as it gains in popularity, the insurance companies will realize the "cash cow" and increase the premiums, the vets, will realize the "cash cow" and increase their costs.  Then, the government will realize the "cash cow" and regulate the hell out of it until the cost becomes just plain STUPID.  There is my two cents.

I also believe that this pet insurance will take on a huge economic project. In this country, some animals are actually treated better than some children. I forgot how many millions the pet stores made this last Christmas on "pet gifts".

I had a black lab (Lucky was her name) a few years ago that developed cancer. The vet offered all of the chemo treatments. I told them that I would think about it and get back to them. I called Lucky's wonderful breeder who was also an AKC judge and asked her what she would recommend.

She made me promise NOT to put her through chemo or any other cancer treatment. She also asked me, what I thought then a strange question. She asked me if Lucky was still smiling. Within a minute I knew what she meant. And I said yes. She assured me that Lucky would stop smiling one day and I would just know when it was time to "let her go". And she also made me promise to "let her go" when the time was right. She continued to explain how these animals know when it is time to go. She said that it was "us" who let them stay on and suffer in a quality of life they weren't meant to live.

So as difficult and heart breaking as it was, Lucky eventually stopped smiling. Her quality of life had diminished. And I knew it was time. I was with her when we "let her go".

Lucky did remain smiling for about 2 years after her first diagnosis of cancer. And had a normal quality of life. I believe that if I had decided to allow her to go through any cancer treatment, she would have died sooner.

I think that for all animal lovers, we need to be realistic when it comes to our animals. Although I should talk!! I maintain a personal blog on the internet for my present dog. How pathetic is that?

Someone give me something sharp to poke in my eye---I love my dog/cat etc,,,,but I am also a nurse.....we are going back-asswards....I dont want to hear another complaint about HUMAN health insurance and the cost thereof.....lets toss our dogs/cats/goldfish and the rest of our pets onto the politicians podiums.....

Hey senders, first don't poke your eye out cause then there may be a nurse ratchet taking care of you.
But don't you worry, the industry knows we are saps for our animals and for that they know there is big bucks to be made! And of course we will pay what ever it takes for our pet insurance and yet bit** about our $10,20,30 copay for our-human-selves or a human loved one!

JoAnn, You brought tears to my eyes.  My little pitbull/hound was named Lucky.  We were also with her when we put her to sleep.  I promised her it was the last time she would feel a needle.  We brought her home and Bob built a coffin for her.  Took him all day while she layed beside him.  It was something.  We let our other dog say goodbye and buried her in the back yard.  I know what you mean about the smiling.  You have made up my mind as far as "humane" treatment goes.  I won't do it again. I wonder if she would have lived longer and smiled longer if we had just left it alone.  My yellow lab is blind from cataracts, she is only 9 but she is still smiling.  She may run into stuff, but she can still snatch that frisbee out of the air.  We can't figure out how she does it when she can't see.  The vet said they get along fine, its when you put the emotion into it like we do that there is a problem.  How do I find your blog?

http://gretasgirl.wordpress.com/

Here is Miss Greta's blog! I did it through Wordpress which is wonderful and easy. When you click on the site, it starts with the most recent post. If you want to start from the begining you have to scroll to the bottom and click on "previous entry".

Only in America! Enjoy!!