Is pet insurance too expensive?

WORCESTER – When our pets are sick or hurt, we will do anything to help them. But an emergency visit to the vet can cost thousands. 

Since the pandemic, there has been a big spike in pet owners getting pet insurance. Just like auto or home insurance, you pay a premium- and usually a deductible- and you are covered for any costly emergency.

Pet insurance costs skyrocketing

The first pet ever to be insured was the TV icon, Lassie. Nationwide Insurance even had a news conference the day the pooch got its policy. But now, 5.6 million pets are insured in the United States. That number has skyrocketed and so have the costs.

WBZ-TV viewer Carrie LaRose sent an email to our Question Everything inbox because she was frustrated by what has happened to her pet insurance plan. 

She asked: “Why are pet insurance premiums so high? Trying to talk to them about their increases and billing practices is futile.”

WBZ-TV’s David Wade went to Worcester to meet LaRose and her 6-year-old Golden Retriever named Fenway. LaRose has had pet insurance for Fenway since he was just a puppy. She was really glad she had it two years ago when Fenway suddenly had a seizure.

 “He stopped breathing. He was writhing. He was foaming,” she said.

LaRose said with medical tests and medicine, she easily saved $5,000 with her pet insurance policy. Her monthly payments were pretty cheap, too. In 2018, she was paying $39 per month. It stayed that way for two years. But in 2020, the price went up to $44. In 2021, it was $57 per month. In 2022, it went up again to $71.

In 2023, it was $95. Then last year, her premium jumped to a whopping $129 per month.

“It’s more than tough. It doesn’t fit it into the budget at all.”

Pet insurance for Wade’s 4-year-old Golden Retriever, Ringo, jumped from $78 per month to $118 per month this year. Why? Well, clear answers are hard to come by.

Pet insurance is “just like home and auto insurance”

LaRose’s insurance company, Trupanion, guarantees on its website that it won’t raise the yearly premium because of claims or because the pet is a year older. WBZ-TV reached out to them for an explanation for Fenway’s huge price jump and never heard back.

As for the more than 50% increase in Wade’s bill, his insurance company said, “The price hikes are based on the pet’s geographic region … the rising cost of veterinary care in the United States and inflation due to equipment improvements, medication and other factors.” Then, they added: “It’s just like home and auto insurance.”   

Pet insurance companies are licensed and regulated by the state’s Division of Insurance, which told me companies have blamed rate hikes on “evolving technology and increases in the costs of supplies.”

Harrison Stenson is the pet insurance coordinator at Angell Animal Medical Center in Jamaica Plain. He thinks insurance is important and he helps pet owners at the hospital to work through any issues or questions with policies. He said he does not sell insurance or partner with any insurance companies. He just wants customers to be prepared.

 “Every day, I see people who probably couldn’t get their pet’s cancer treatment if they didn’t have insurance,” said Stenson.

But Stenson sees some big problems with the industry. Most of all, he doesn’t like the vague answers that insurance companies provide.

“It is definitely tricky for me to understand what’s happening with the prices. There’s not a lot of transparency,” he said. “One of the biggest issues I have when recommending a policy for people is just not knowing what that insurance company is going to do with their prices. In the next year. In the next five years. I just don’t know, and I really wish I did.”

Is pet insurance worth it?

Insurance companies can even drop you as a customer. Nationwide Insurance recently announced it was canceling coverage for about 100,000 pet owners because of profit problems.

So, is it even worth it? Well, if you are spending $1,000 on pet insurance this year, over 10 years, that’s $10,000. That money could be put in an emergency savings account– and you might not even use it. But that takes discipline, and some people want the peace of mind of knowing they’re protected from any major medical problem.

At the end of the day, our pets are priceless, and insurance is pricey with no end in sight.