As with people, dogs get older and often end up having health problems toward the end of their lives. Many dogs also suffer from other conditions for their entire lives, making it costly to maintain their health. For these reasons, many dog owners are beginning to consider the idea of whether or not they need to purchase health insurance for their dogs.

Only about 3 percent of dogs in the United States are currently insured. Most people still think that health insurance for a dog is a luxury. However, with so many people treating their dogs as members of their family, thinking about pet health insurance is certainly warranted.

If you are considering insurance for your dog, ask yourself how extensive you want the coverage to be. Some types of insurance cover everything from general checkups and vaccinations to spay or neuter surgeries. Other insurance policies cover only major accidents or illnesses.

It’s best to purchase pet insurance before your dog reaches the age of five. This is the cut off period for certain dog breeds, while the cut off for mixed breeds is age eight or nine. Mixed breeds tend to have less health problems than pure breeds.

In general, pet health insurance helps pay for major medical coverage for accidents and illnesses, vaccinations and routine care, prescriptions, x-rays and lab fees, and surgery and hospitalization. Each pet insurance company offers slightly different plans, which makes it difficult to decide on the best policy.

First, decide on which deductible should you choose. As with human health insurance, choosing a higher deductible will lower your monthly payment, but it will also cause you more out-of-pocket expenses with each new medical treatment for your dog. On the other hand, a lower deductible will increase your monthly premium, but your out-of-pocket costs will be lower.

Some policies offer you the flexibility of changing plans so that your policy will always match the needs of your dog. Also, can you choose any vet you want—or are you restricted to a network vet? You’ll be better off choosing a plan that covers emergency care and a follow-up treatment, as well as the benefits of specialist care, such as a veterinarian for eye care or one for cancer.

You will also want to be able to treat a chronic illness, such as diabetes or cancer from one policy term to the next. Preexisting conditions (those that existed before the original policy effective date) are typically not covered by any plan. If you would do anything to save your pet, including spending thousands of dollars on medical care, pet insurance might be the way to go.

Maybe the most important thing to consider when choosing a pet insurance plan is to find a company that employs pet lovers who care and who understand dogs. That way, you can be sure that the company will do what it can to help you decide on the right type of insurance for your family dog.

Tags: health care, pet insurance, senior pets, speciality veterinarinas