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| Pet Care |
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An offshoot of Canadian-based Pethealth Inc., PetCare is the second-largest pet health insurance company in the U.S. with 75,000 dogs and cats covered. Specializing in covering accidents and illnesses, PetCare offers no coverage for basic wellness care. (The company argues that the point of insurance is to cover the unexpected: in other words, just as you know what your monthly rent or mortgage payments are, so you know what your have to spend each year on basic veterinary care. PetCare's insurance is designed to cover expenses you haven't budgeted for.)
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| 866-275-PETS www.petcareinsurance.com |
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Because PetCare's reimbursements are simply a fixed percent of your out-of-pocket costs (and not defined by some actuary's "benefit schedules" or "reasonable-and-customary costs") they are in many cases more generous than typical payouts. We also like that once you're enrolled in a policy, the cost of your premium does not increase with your dog's age. And while we're not sure how useful such bells and whistles are, we like the bonus coverage for such things as: damage your dog may do to your rental apartment; reward money offered to find a lost dog; and financial reimbursement if your dog dies in an accident. Finally, we think PetCare's website is the best of the bunch, offering lots of information in (fairly) plain English.
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With six different plans (including two we don't even list here), and various options within each of those six plans, we get dizzy trying to sort out PetCare's policies. Making matters more complicated: some breeds must be no older than eight when they first enroll in the core policies, while other "select breeds" (including German shepherds, boxers, basset hounds, dalmations, and dozens more) must be no older than six. The company does offer a "Senior" plan for older dogs, but because we think that plan offers such limited value for the money we don't even feature it here.
There's this too: coverage in the core plans is limited to a maximum amount per "illness category," which pretty much guarantees that if your dog has a serious long-term illness you'll quickly lose relevant coverage. And don't even get us started on the huge premium surcharges, as much as 44 percent in some cases, for "select breeds."
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QuickCare
Cost: $119 a year
Quigley's Cost: $119 a year
Coverage: After a $50 per-incident deductible, plan reimburses 100 percent of out-of-pocket expenses up to $2,000 for each included (see "Medical Care Covered," below) accident, except poison ingestion (which carries a $1,500 limit), and lacerations, burns, or allergic reactions to bites and stings ($500 limit). There are no annual limits. The plan will also cover up to $500 of your dog's original purchase price if your dog dies from an accident (assuming they haven't already paid for injuries sustained by that same accident).
Medical Care Covered: Accidents only, and only accidents that fit into one of these categories: ingestion of a foreign object or a poison, motor vehicle accidents, bone fractures, lacerations, burns, and allergic reactions to insect bites and stings.
Medical Care Not Covered: Basic care and dental care are not covered. Illnesses are not covered, nor are injuries from accidents that don't fall into one of the officially covered categories (see above). For example, if your dog fell down the stairs, his broken leg would be covered, but not any internal hemorrhaging.
Quigley's Coverage: His surgeries for fishing out the swallowed toy and mending his broken limb are covered up to a maximum of $2,000 each. Care for his bloat and lymphoma are not. His annual check-up isn't covered either.
Age restriction: Any dogs eight weeks of age and older is eligible. Prices don't increase with age.
Breed Restriction: None
Pre-existing condition exclusion: Yes.
TenantCare
Cost: $179 a year
Quigley's Cost: $179 a year
Coverage: After a $75 per-incident deductible, plan reimburses 100 percent of out-of-pocket expenses up to $1,000 for most included accidents and up to $500 each for no more than two "first-time" illnesses (ie, illnesses your dog has never had before) a year. Also included is up to $700 for damage to a home or apartment you rent, plus $150 toward recovering a lost dog.
Medical Care Covered: Same as basic QuickCare plan (see above) plus any first-time illnesses (from ear-infections to cancer).
Medical Care Not Covered: Basic care and dental care are not covered. Recurring illnesses are not covered, nor are accident injuries that don't fall into one of the officially covered categories.
Quigley's Coverage: His treatment for a broken leg and swallowing a rubber toy would be covered up to $1,000. His treatment for bloat and lymphoma would be covered only up to $500 after deductible, provided it's a first-time diagnosis. There's is no coverage for his annual checkup and dental cleaning.
Age restriction: Depending on the breed, new policies are not issued to dogs older than age six or eight. However, dogs who are already enrolled in the plan do not face an increase in premiums as they age.
Breed restriction: None.
Pre-existing condition restriction: Yes.
QuickCare Gold
Cost: Starts at $275 a year (for 70 percent reimbursement of out-of-pocket costs) and climbs quickly depending on what reimbursement percentage and limit you pick.
Quigley's Cost: $275 a year for 70 percent reimbursement at the lowest reimbursement limit and $467 a year for 100 percent reimbursement at the same lowest limit.
Coverage: After the $75 per incident deductible, the basic version of this plan reimburses 70 percent of your out-of-pocket expenses up to a lifetime limit of $3,000 in each of 12 illness categories (ie, digestive system, blood and lymphoid system, eyes, skin, etc.). In plain English, this means that if your dog has cancer (which is one of the 12 illness categories) the maximum you will be ever reimbursed for his cancer care, no matter how often you renew your policy, is $3,000. There is also an overall, all-illnesses combined, lifetime reimbursement limit of $36,000 (in other words, the $3,000 illness category limit x 12 categories). For higher premiums, you can get 100 percent of out-of-pocket expenses reimbursed for up to $6,000 in each illness category.
Reimbursements for accidents are separate. After the $75 per incident deductible, the basic plan reimburses your out-of-pocket expenses up to $3,000 per incident with no annual or lifetime cap. The plan will also cover up to $500 of your dog's original purchase price if your dog dies from an accident (assuming they haven't already paid for injuries sustained by that same accident), up to $100 if your dog must be put down, up to $150 toward recovering a lost dog, and up to $250 to cover the cost of boarding your dog if you are hospitalized.
Medical Care Covered: All accidents and illnesses.
Medical Care Not Covered: Wellness care is not covered, nor are pre-existing conditions.
Quigley's Coverage: His broken limb and swallowed object are covered as accidents. His treatment for bloat and lymphoma are also covered, as long as he hasn't already used up the lifetime limits for those illness categories. There's is no coverage for his annual checkup and dental cleaning.
Age restriction: Depending on the breed, new policies are not issued to dogs older than age six or eight. (they can instead sign up for the company's limited QuickCare Senior plan). However, dogs who are already enrolled in the plan do not face increases in premiums as they age.
Breed Restriction: Shar-peis are only covered for accidents, but not illness. Owners of some 60 "select breeds" (including German shepherds, boxers, basset hounds, dalmations, and dozens more) pay a massive 44 percent surcharge ($395 a year versus $275 a year) on the basic version of this policy and a 28 percent surcharge on the most expensive version ($875 versus $683).
Pre-existing condition restriction: Yes.
QuickCare Preferred
Cost: Starts at $419 a year
Quigley's Cost: $419 a year
Coverage: After a $100 per incident deductible, the plan reimburses 70 percent of your out-of-pocket expenses up to a lifetime limit of $5,000 in each of the 12 illness categories (See Quick Care Gold, above, for details on how this works). There is also an overall, all-illnesses combined, lifetime reimbursement limit of $60,000 (in other words, the $5,000 illness category limit x 12 categories.)
Reimbursements for accidents are separate. After the $100 per incident deductible, plan reimburses your out-of-pocket expenses up to $5,000 per accident with no annual or lifetime cap. Like the QuickCare Gold plan, this plan will also cover up to $500 of your dog's original purchase price if your dog dies from an accident (assuming they haven't already paid for injuries sustained by that same accident), up to $100 if your dog must be put down, up to $150 toward recovering a lost dog, and up to $250 to cover the cost of boarding your dog if you are hospitalized.
Medical Care Covered: Same as QuickCare Gold (see above).
Medical Care Not Covered: Same as QuickCare Gold (see above).
Quigley's Coverage: Same as QuickCare Gold (see above).
Age restriction: Depending on the breed, new policies are not issued to dogs older than age six or eight (they can instead sign up for the company's limited QuickCare Senior plan). However, dogs who are already enrolled in the plan do not face increases in premiums as they age.
Breed Restriction: Shar-peis are only covered for accidents, not illness. "Select breeds" (including German shepherds, boxers, basset hounds, dalmations, and dozens more) pay a 29 percent surcharge ($539 a year versus $419).
Pre-existing condition restriction: Yes.
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