The only family member with no Medicare

You see Fifo as a family member. He lives indoors with you, sleeps on your bed, and even takes up the best spot on your sofa. He goes everywhere with you; in fact, he embraces every aspect of your lifestyle. But when he becomes sick or has an accident, the reality is, he is just a dog.

Fifo is the only member of your family with no access to Medicare and free health care service. So how can you best protect this family member?

Clockwise: Cruz, Caroline, Yasmin and Isabella. Photo: Siam Lim

Eric and Caroline Zambrano have had many dogs in their lives including a Poodle, Lhasa Apso, German Shepherd, and Airedale Terrier. But when their last dog, a Doberman died, they decided that with the next dog they get, they would involve their young children, Yasmin, 10, and Isabella, 5, in choosing their next dog. They researched the dog they wanted — an Anatolian pup — and talked about each family member’s responsibility and job, as it was no longer going to be “just mummy and daddy’s dog.”

But Caroline’s first priority and responsibility was making sure eight-week old Cruz (“Cruz Zambrano,” Isabella chips in) is covered by pet insurance from the day he arrived.

As it turned out, she says, they ended up claiming on the second day when he got his head stuck in the fence. Then he was clawed by a cat and there were the times he had allergy problems and complications from things he should not have eaten.

They paid about $510 for a year’s premium and had already claimed back this full amount within the first four months. This was not the first time the Zambranos dealt with pet insurance. They recalled the time their Doberman had to have a $5000 emergency operation.

“We were thanking our lucky stars because we wouldn't have got the attention and the benefit, had we not have pet insurance. We still would have had the operation done but it’s such a great relief when you know you don’t have to worry about the money. 

“People don’t realise it, but a large dog requires more medication, more anaesthetic; and antibiotic and specialist medications come by the kilo,” Eric says.

The Zambranos urge everyone to take up insurance, They say you could use standard pet insurance every time you go to the vet and with optimum cover, you may be insured for such things as tick and flea treatment.

“It’s not just for emergencies, but for day-to-day stuff, even dog training. It doesn’t cover everything but it helps,” Eric says.

Vicki Minaham, who has two dogs, Ringo, a six-year old beagle and Zoe, an eight-old year Schmoodle, also believes in pet insurance. 

“My dogs are my life. They go everywhere with me; I do everything with them. They are part of our family.” 

Vicki spends at least $6000 a year on each dog with quality food and insurance accounting for major expenses. She says both dogs have had insurance since they were eight weeks old. She uses it regularly.  

“We never had a problem or an issue and we’ve claimed a number of times. Ringo has had cancer a few times and a lot of surgery, and without pet insurance we wouldn't have been able to afford the treatment.”

The cost of insurance is $500 a year for each dog. 

“But we've claimed back more than that during the year for both of them, so it’s been a worthwhile investment,” Vicki says.

The best time to take up pet insurance is when you first bring your pet home, so you are covered from day one. The longer a pet is without an insurance, the more likely it is to develop health issues that insurance companies may then consider as pre-existing conditions, and exclude these from any policy you decide to take later.

Besides food, veterinary fees are the second highest expenditure on dogs, costing owners $1.6 billion annually. Yet compared to this, insurance expense is only a paltry sum of $158 million according to the Pet Ownership in Australia 2013 survey for Animal Health Alliance. 

As reported in the survey, only about 30 per cent of pet owners take up pet insurance.

Still, this is a growth considering 10 years ago pet insurance was almost non-existent and it is only in the past five years that it has picked up. With new developments in pet health care, owners can expect to face higher costs. This has given pet insurance a boost.

Resistance to pet insurance

However, there is still resistance towards insurance among pet owners who see no point in insurance if an insurance company is tough on what it deems a pre-existing condition.

The interpretation of pre-existing condition by insurance companies can be subjective. According to Choice, Australia’s consumer watchdog and advocacy group, if your pet had a rash, for example, before the start of the policy and is diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver later in life, treatment for cirrhosis could be excluded from the policy as a pre-existing condition since the rash may have been an early symptom of the disease.

Here the insurance company is interpreting a pre-existing condition based on the  entire body system. Skin is considered an entire body system.

“Vets are finding the issue of pre-existing conditions based on the entire body system to be an issue for their clients, Dr Garry Edgar, a member of the Australian Veterinary Association, says.

He says, for instance, when a dog has had gastrointestinal problem like diarrhea and, in a later instance, swallows an object that gets stuck in the intestines requiring surgery, in the past an insurance company may have considered any gastrointestinal problem as a pre-existing condition.

To advocate for changes in the policy, the Australian Veterinary Association set up a Pet Insurance Taskforce in 2013 headed by Dr Edgar, to bring veterinarians and the insurance underwriters together.

Currently, in Australia, there are over 50 companies providing pet insurance, from the major health insurance providers such as Medibank, Allianz, Bupa and HCF to dedicated pet insurance companies. The RSPCA and Woolworths also provide pet insurance.

Cover types vary from accident only, accident and illness (the most common policy) to premium accident, illness and routine care. As important as it is to insure your pet, even more important is picking the right insurance.

Onus is on pet owners to check policies

Choice says the onus is on policy holders to study policies to determine which policy may pay the whole vet bill, which provides cover for ongoing conditions, whether there is a co-payment clause, which provides the highest annual benefits and to what extent the premium may increase as a pet ages.

And, importantly, look out for policies that insist on payments of premiums for the remainder of the policy period should a pet die after a claim is made.

Generally, pet insurance plans range from as little as $130 to over $1300 a year. And it is a good idea to check with the vet as to whether he or she can provide an in-house pet health plan tailored to a pet to cover vet visits.

Another option for pet owners to consider is to self-insure by setting up a savings fund (a sort of pet piggy bank) and build it up monthly to provide for unforeseen pet health needs as they occur.