Do All Vets Take Pet Insurance?

While humans must remain in-network to receive health insurance coverage, any licensed vet will accept pet insurance. This includes emergency veterinary health care and specialty vet visits.

Pet owners must typically file a claim to receive reimbursement after a vet visit, but some companies pay your vet directly. This reimbursement model allows for direct payment for eligible veterinary expenses, eliminating the need for policyholders to pay out-of-pocket and submit a claim for reimbursement later. The following pet insurance providers offer this option:

• Healthy Paws
• Pets Best
• Trupanion

The Vet Pay Direct model can be great for pet parents who want to avoid paying large amounts up-front and waiting for reimbursement.

Pet insurance doesn’t fall under the category of health insurance. It’s technically a type of property and casualty (P&C) insurance, but it’s still considered health insurance for your pet.

The semantics and technicalities of pet insurance can seem confusing, but the way it works is pretty straightforward. After taking your pet to the vet for routine checkups, emergency treatment or other wellness visits, you pay the bill at the time of service. You then submit a claim, and if covered, you get reimbursed for the cost of the visit minus the deductible and co-pay.

Pet insurance differs from human health insurance, where you typically only pay the deductible and co-pay, and the provider files the claim on your behalf. 

There are three main categories of pet insurance, each offering different amounts of coverage. Each category usually has different monthly premiums. We’ve outlined the main pet insurance categories and what each plan covers below.

• Accident-only: These policies are generally cheaper compared to other options but limited in coverage. This type of plan covers only injuries or conditions considered accidental like lacerations, fractures and other accident-related costs, such as X-rays. Accident-only policies do not cover medications, vaccinations or routine examinations.
• Accident and illness: These policies are more comprehensive, covering accidents plus other hereditary diseases and illnesses such as cancer, endocrine disorders and some orthopedic injuries. Most accident-and-illness plans cover hospitalization, diagnostic tests and surgeries. Depending on the policy, they may cover alternative therapies, breed-specific conditions and prescription costs.
• Wellness Care: Wellness coverage is often offered as an add-on to a standard policy. It covers routine and preventive care such as annual wellness exam fees, flea and tick products, heartworm medication, parasite testing, spay/neuter surgery, teeth cleaning and vaccinations.

While pet insurance covers a vast majority of veterinary expenses, there are some exclusions. It’s essential to keep these in mind when selecting a policy. Review items that generally aren’t covered by pet insurance below.

• Elective procedures: These procedures aren’t considered necessary for your pet’s health, such as declawing, sedated grooming and tail docking, or the surgical removal of part of your dog’s tail.
• Pre-existing conditions: A pre-existing condition is any health-related disorder that has been diagnosed before pet health insurance coverage takes effect. This includes conditions that develop before or during the policy’s waiting period. Most pet insurance does not cover previously diagnosed conditions such as diabetes, heartworm disease or feline leukemia. Your provider may make an exception if you can prove the pre-existing condition is cured. A pet with pre-existing conditions can still receive accident-and-illness coverage and other wellness benefits, but it may come with higher deductibles, lower reimbursement percentages or both. See our top recommendations for coverage of pets with pre-existing conditions.
• Prescription food: The cost of specialty prescription food to manage allergies, kidney disease or other ailments is often not covered under pet insurance.
• Routine care: Routine care refers to vet care and procedures that prevent illness and keep your pet healthy. This usually includes spaying and neutering, annual checkups, vaccinations, parasite prevention, heartworm medication, teeth cleaning, ear cleaning, and microchipping. These services are usually excluded from pet insurance plans unless you add on wellness coverage for an additional cost.

Pet insurance and human health insurance policies are similar in that they both pay for specific medical treatments, but the reimbursement model is used only in pet insurance.

When you go to the vet, you must pay the veterinary bill at the time of service. You then submit a claim for reimbursement from your pet insurance company. Once your claim has been processed, the insurance company will reimburse you the amount you paid at the vet, minus your deductible and co-pay.

Some insurance providers offer vet direct pay, a reimbursement model that allows policyholders to have eligible veterinary expenses paid directly to the veterinarian.

Before enrolling in coverage, you’ll want to understand a provider’s claim process. Find out what information is required for reimbursement, what steps you need to take and how quickly the company reimburses claims. Otherwise, you could be stuck waiting for an expensive vet bill reimbursement.

Here’s how five major pet insurance companies handle claims according to our research.

Embrace

• Claims are processed within 10 to 15 days
• You must submit a claim form and itemized receipt from the vet
• Claims can be submitted through email, the Embrace app, mail or fax
• Your claim is submitted automatically if you use the MyEmbrace feature

To learn more: Embrace Pet Insurance review

Pets Best

• Claims are typically processed within one week
• Claims submitted using Vet Direct Pay are reimbursed directly to the vet
• Claims can be submitted electronically through the Pets Best portal

To learn more: Pets Best Pet Insurance review 

Nationwide

• Claims can be submitted by hard copy or electronically
• Claims submitted electronically are processed more quickly
• Claims are processed within 30 days of receipt

To learn more: Nationwide Pet Insurance review

Spot

• All claims are filed electronically
• Policyholders have 270 days after treatment to submit a claim
• Claims are usually processed within a week to 10 days

To learn more: Spot Pet Insurance review

Figo

• All claims are submitted electronically through the Figo Pet Cloud service
• You must submit a claim form and the vet’s invoice
• Claims are guaranteed to be paid within 30 days

To learn more: Figo Pet Insurance review

Each company offers flexible claim submission policies. Determining which factors are most important to you for reimbursement is a good way to settle on a provider.