The rising cost of health care and the increasing number of insurance options make the idea of pet health insurance more attractive to a lot of pet owners. Although plans differ based on coverage, deductibles, limits, caps and exclusions, many companies are offering different components or types of coverage. By choosing a plan tailored to your pet’s particular age and health vulnerabilities you can significantly decrease the cost of providing you pet with quality health care.

Discounted Pet Insurance as a Benefit of Membership

USAA pet insurance is an offer that the United Services Automobile Association makes to benefit its members. By being a member of USAA, you receive a 15% discount on the cost of full coverage pet insurance. In addition, they offer an additional 5% discount for each one of the following: active duty military, spayed or neutered pet, multiple pets, annual premium paid in full and/or predictive testing. The actual plan covers unexpected accidents and illnesses and allows the pet owner to choose any licensed veterinarian in the world to provide services. There is a wellness component that can be added to the basic coverage to provide reimbursement for routine and preventative health services. The reimbursement process is touted as simple by the Association’s website, with claims being reimbursed 72 hours after all relevant claim forms are submitted.

Shopping Comparatively is Always Smart

Although plans differ widely in their coverage and cost, the basic principles that you apply to your own health care concerns are mostly applicable to your pet’s insurance needs. Most cover emergency care and prescriptions as well as diagnostic testing and x-rays. The cost of coverage, the breadth of coverage, the out of pocket expense and deductibles (be they incident by incident or annual) are all relevant considerations. Checking to see if exams are covered is also a wise precaution: many plans do not.