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Are Preexisting Conditions Covered Under Pet Insurance?

Are preexisting conditions covered under pet insurance?

Preexisting conditions: those health problems that develop prior to seeking health insurance. Are they covered for pets? What happens if your pet has one? This is a common concern with an interesting solution.

Bella, a 5-year-old Schnauzer, had been totally healthy until one week ago when her owner noticed that she was drinking a lot. She was always at the water bowl and seemed to be urinating more frequently. After Bella vomited her owner Sarah brought her in to the vet. As it turned out, Bella is a diabetic and had a mild case of pancreatitis.

Sarah didn’t have pet insurance for Bella because she didn’t think she needed it…until now. Unfortunately, pre-existing conditions such as diabetes are not covered with new policies from any of the pet insurance companies we interviewed for this article.

While diabetes or cancer will likely always be considered pre-existing conditions that cannot be covered, some insurance companies consider certain conditions “curable” pre-existing conditions and will cover them moving forward if the pet goes a certain period of time symptom free. Some examples of pre-existing conditions that might be considered “curable” are ear infections, urinary tract infections, or respiratory infections.

If you do have a policy you might find that your provider has a maximum amount of payout per diagnosis. For the most accurate information, call your pet insurance provider.

I hope this gives you more information about whether preexisting conditions are covered with pet insurance.