each pet insurance company offers slightly different plans. And that's the single biggest reason that you need to carefully compare the options to make an educated decision. To help in your comparison, i've prepared an easy-to-understand description of the most important things you'll need to consider.
- Deductibility, a higher deductible will lower your monthly premium, but means your out-of-pocket will be higher each time your pet begins a new medical treatment. Choosing a lower deductible will increase your monthly premium, but means your out-of-pocket costs will be lower.
- Policy limit, The rising cost of modern veterinary medicine can sometimes make a low per-incident limit (or low lifetime limits) unrealistic.
- Policy coverage, make sure they cover chronic disease like diabetes or cancer. incident coverage should cover for surgical coverages that include removal of swallowed objects and treatment of hernias. as for routine care the policy should cover for annual exams, vaccinations, teeth cleaning, and diagnostics such as blood panels and urine testing
- reimbursement calculation, generally it's calculated in two basic ways; as a fair and straight forward percentage of vet bill or as a percentage of a benefit scedule which limit the amount the insurance company is willing to pay
- Veterinary network restriction, be sure you're allowed to visit any licensed veterinarian. the policy should cover 24 hour emergency accident otherwise it'd be useless when your pet got sick in the middle of the night. it also should cover for specialist treatment for a more complicated disease.
to be continued....
source:
http://www.petsbest.com/TenThingsYouShouldKnow.aspx