I do not think anyone is denying it is an insurance policy. That is why we are comparing how it works to other insurance that you would pay for with out the supplement that would also not cover you for a year after an incident.
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I seem to have struck a nerve with the platinum crowd I guess. ðŸËâ For the record I do understand that smartpak and insurance companies do this as well but I donât agree that just because something is âthe normâ that automatically makes it ethical. My beef isnât just with platinum itâs with smartpak and similar brands as well.
The fact is the product, including the colic program, is marketed toward horses with GI issues which is why I think itâs so stupid to exclude the very horses youre marketing the product for.
Secondly, I think itâs ridiculous that you have to pay the exact same amount. If they donât want to cover a horse, fine but why would you charge the same amount when their cost is significantly reduced?
The period of time after a horse has a scary colic is really stressful for an owner as a lot of you know. I know I feel desperate to try anything that could help my horse because Iâm terrified of her having to go through that again. I think these companies know this and know that people will blow way too much money on a supplement and the people wonât question the fact that theyâre getting burned financially.
I do not use any Platinum products so being part of a crowd of some sort is not why I do not agree with your logic.
Edit to add: The only way to look at this is - If you think this product, the actual product, not the colic coverage, is worth the price then buy it. If you do not think this product is worth the price then do not buy it.
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A lot of people are trying to explain industry standards here. It has zilch to do with Platinum Performance. Youâre not going to be able to find colic coverage reallyâŚanywhereâŚwithin a year of a colic. Thatâs just how things work.
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Hey, most supplements are a scam. They make us feel better.
I used to pay for the SmartGut Ultra after an ulcer episode and treatment for my guy. Found a supplement with almost the same ingredients that was less than 1/4 of the cost per month. And honestly, I have no idea if either does anything.
I also say this while still having my horses on a couple of supplements each.
I totally see what youâre saying with the cost but not having the insurance for colic. But, just like most insurance companies, they donât actually want people to use the insurance partâjust collect the fees.
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Right I get that but at the same time this isnât purely just an insurance. Itâs a program to help with GI issues. Iâm sorry Iâm just not buying the BS that the 10k in coverage is âcomplimentaryâÂ. Itâs not. That coverage is reflected in their price thatâs the whole reason the products cost that much. Yes if you fork over the money youâll still get the physical product but youâre getting ripped off from a HUGE portion of the productâs value. Similar colic insurance alone would normally start at 500 a year which would account for over a third of the productâs annual cost.
I get it, itâs not the norm and itâs apparently not the way most consumers look at this. But maybe we should look at this differently. I think these practices are predatory and theyâre just ripping off vulnerable consumers because theyâre scared to death of their horse colicing again.
The more I think of it I just really canât justify buying from them.
Nope. Not for a horse thatâs had a colic in the last 12 months.
Sure, theyâll sell you a major medical policy, and let you pay the $$, but colic STILL will be excluded. Just like with the supplement, minus the supplement.
And if you think this is shitty of PP, and wonât purchase anything from them because of it, youâll have to boycott smartpak, strongid and ⌠arenus, maybe? There are probably a few more out there, too. Oh, and all those insurance underwriters that exclude colicâŚ
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So donât buy from them (general).
Customers are being sold a product that might help, but might not. The real insurance (besides obviously, taking out an insurance policy) is changing your horseâs management. Get the horse out as much as possible. Look into making sure the horse does not go more than 4 hours without hay or grain in front of him. Reduce stall time. Add more roughage, round the clock.
These things are by no means small when it comes to ensuring the gastric health of the horse. They are hard to do, because it is industry standard to stall our horses â but in the long run, adjusting the management is key to preventing colics in the future.
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It IS a bonus because you buy the product, whether or not you also want the colic coverage. Everybody pays the same thing for the product, no matter the age weight size work color location of the horse. Itâs just a really really nice bonus, and yes, it IS specifically for colic.
This doesnât have anything to do with PP, because how they are operating is the same as other companies, including insurance companies. Except, insurance companies donât sell actual products
For the record I do understand that smartpak and insurance companies do this as well but I donât agree that just because something is âthe normâ that automatically makes it ethical. My beef isnât just with platinum itâs with smartpak and similar brands as well.
PP and SP and anyone else who does this is simply âsellingâ insurance, just as if they were an insurance company. It just happens to come with a product to use. Nothing more, nothing less. So yes, this is the norm because thatâs how ALL insurance works. Ethical? Whatâs unethical? The rules are clearly laid out, this is optional, you can take it or leave it. Nothing unethical about that
The fact is the product, including the colic program, is marketed toward horses with GI issues which is why I think itâs so stupid to exclude the very horses youre marketing the product for.
We only carry liability coverage on our vehicles. If I was in an accident of my own fault, and then wanted to get collision insurance, do you honestly think I could get it for the same cost as someone else with my details (age, car, age of car, etc) ? Of course not. In that case, I can still GET insurance, Iâd just be paying more because Iâd be a proven risk.
But thatâs their choice - is that unethical? Is it unethical that PP doesnât allow you to buy the product, have colic coverage, but just pay more for the product?
Secondly, I think itâs ridiculous that you have to pay the exact same amount. If they donât want to cover a horse, fine but why would you charge the same amount when their cost is significantly reduced?
Because itâs THEIR RULES. I explained above - no doubt part of the cost of the product for everyone is to help cover the cost of paying out for colic surgeries. Thereâs a reason the products are over-priced for what they are. You donât really think they can do all this with products priced according to typical market value, do you?
The period of time after a horse has a scary colic is really stressful for an owner as a lot of you know. I know I feel desperate to try anything that could help my horse because Iâm terrified of her having to go through that again. I think these companies know this and know that people will blow way too much money on a supplement and the people wonât question the fact that theyâre getting burned financially.
Nobody is getting burned when itâs their choice to buy. The product is what it is - if YOU feel like its ingredients can help your horse, then put him on it, and in a year, sign up for the colic coverage. Itâll only cost you about $500 for the year.
If itâs as good as you think it is (regardless of what they say), and you are certain his issues were related to GI issues this product will fix, then you wonât ever have another colic and wonât even have to bother collecting.
Or, you can look for another similar product that will cost a lot less, and in a year, start the PP GI product and sign up for the insurance.
And if he colics again in 6 months, well, then either it had nothing to do with the issues this product could potentially prevent, or it goes way beyond the work this product can do. Either way, why should PP have to pay for a known risk when they have ZERO idea whether it was your management that caused the problem in the first place?
At least after a year, they can feel pretty certain that either you did nothing wrong in the first place, or youâve resolved whatever issues led to the colic.
This is the real world. This isnât some supplement scam. This is 100% voluntary, not even required.
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I know you say that stuff to help but it feels extremely condescending. You donât think I know all that? Just because my horse coliced doesnât mean sheâs being managed poorly.
Sheâs four, she has 24/7 turnout with access to good pasture all day long this time of year and in the winter she has 24/7 access to hay. Sheâs never lived in a stall in her life and the only concentrate feed she gets is one pound of ration balancer.
I came here to vent about the predatory practices of the equine supplement market. Your unsolicited advice is unnecessary and dismissive of my frustrations. If you donât have anything helpful to say donât say anything at all.
Do what you want, but Iâve been using PP supplements for my horses for 20 years or so. Yep, thatâs what it costs. I donât regret it. I donât think I even enrolled my horses in the surgical colic protection. Itâs a good supplement, and I think Iâve seen a positive difference in my horsesâ coats and general health.
If you want insurance, buy insurance. Or you can look at some of the other supplements that offer a program, like the daily wormers. I buy the supplements because I want the supplement, and I think the price is fair for what I get. If you think the price is too high for the ingredients, choose something different.
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Heck, equine major medical insurance is in some ways even more limiting. If your horse is diagnosed with ulcers, but shows no colic symptoms, theyâll exclude both ulcers and colic in the next policy year (the premium doesnât get lowered either). Once the horse has been healthy for 12 months, you can ask to have those exclusions removed at your next renewal.
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But THEY donât know that.
As well, what insurance company wants to take on a known problem? They could either charge you a lot more to help recover some of the more likely pay-out, or make you wait so they can be reasonably assured this was a one-time thing
Sheâs four, she has 24/7 turnout with access to good pasture all day long this time of year and in the winter she has 24/7 access to hay. Sheâs never lived in a stall in her life and the only concentrate feed she gets is one pound of ration balancer.
And sometimes colic just happens for no reason. It doesnât sound like it was too serious in your care, and trust me, weâre all glad sheâs fine.
I get it, Iâve had 3 colics, 3 different horses, and the real JB is dead because of it (strangulating lipoma). Another was during later term pregnancy. Another was as a yearling, and never since in the next 20 years. I had insurance in that yearling, and you BET they excluded colic for a while after that, with zero reduction in my premiums.
I came here to vent about the predatory practices of the equine supplement market. Your unsolicited advice is unnecessary and dismissive of my frustrations. If you donât have anything helpful to say donât say anything at all.
Predatory? How is anything predatory when they are 100% up front on what their product is, and how much they believe in it?
You werenât coming here to vent about the supplement market, you came to complain about not being able to get coverage for a âdiseaseâ and blamed PP (and SP) specifically for something that is 100% normal practice in the medical industry
People HAVE appreciated your frustration. My yearling? He injured his RH when he was 4, and thankfully I made great use of the insurance I had. But guess what was no longer covered by my insurance, and still without a reduction in premiums? That leg. The WHOLE leg, not just the part he damaged. It was frustrating, but I understood.
You have not been dismissed. Beowulf simply laid out the best insurance against colics, and that is regardless of what you have or havenât been doing, and just in case you might not have been doing one of these things which, yes, is sometimes out of your control.
Youâre taking all this WAY too personally, when itâs never been any personal commentary on your management.
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Ok so then why would you charge the same as a horse you are insuring? If you donât want to take a risk on a colicing horse then fine. (As Iâve said, I personally think thatâs ridiculous because thatâs the whole reason Iâm buying) But all that aside, why should I pay the same price as if the insurance were built in? Just because they label it as âa complimentary programâ doesnât mean it is. That financial risk theyâre taking on you is built in to the price. The CEO of platinum isnât writing reimbursement checks out of his person checkbook. They are a part of the companyâs cost.
When insurance companies because refuse coverage on your horse for a preexisting condition, they donât still bill you for it as if you were. Also, as Iâve said, I know that most other companies do this. That still doesnât make it right. But FWIW arenus and Succeed donât do this.
But THEY donât know that.
As well, what insurance company wants to take on a known problem? They could either charge you a lot more to help recover some of the more likely pay-out, or make you wait so they can be reasonably assured this was a one-time thing
Sheâs four, she has 24/7 turnout with access to good pasture all day long this time of year and in the winter she has 24/7 access to hay. Sheâs never lived in a stall in her life and the only concentrate feed she gets is one pound of ration balancer.
And sometimes colic just happens for no reason. It doesnât sound like it was too serious in your care, and trust me, weâre all glad sheâs fine.
I get it, Iâve had 3 colics, 3 different horses, and the real JB is dead because of it (strangulating lipoma). Another was during later term pregnancy. Another was as a yearling, and never since in the next 20 years. I had insurance in that yearling, and you BET they excluded colic for a while after that, with zero reduction in my premiums.
I came here to vent about the predatory practices of the equine supplement market. Your unsolicited advice is unnecessary and dismissive of my frustrations. If you donât have anything helpful to say donât say anything at all.
Predatory? How is anything predatory when they are 100% up front on what their product is, and how much they believe in it?
You werenât coming here to vent about the supplement market, you came to complain about not being able to get coverage for a âdiseaseâ and blamed PP (and SP) specifically for something that is 100% normal practice in the medical industry
People HAVE appreciated your frustration. My yearling? He injured his RH when he was 4, and thankfully I made great use of the insurance I had. But guess what was no longer covered by my insurance, and still without a reduction in premiums? That leg. The WHOLE leg, not just the part he damaged. It was frustrating, but I understood.
You have not been dismissed. Beowulf simply laid out the best insurance against colics, and that is regardless of what you have or havenât been doing, and just in case you might not have been doing one of these things which, yes, is sometimes out of your control.
Youâre taking all this WAY too personally, when itâs never been any personal commentary on your management.
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But THEY donât know that.
As well, what insurance company wants to take on a known problem? They could either charge you a lot more to help recover some of the more likely pay-out, or make you wait so they can be reasonably assured this was a one-time thing
Sheâs four, she has 24/7 turnout with access to good pasture all day long this time of year and in the winter she has 24/7 access to hay. Sheâs never lived in a stall in her life and the only concentrate feed she gets is one pound of ration balancer.
And sometimes colic just happens for no reason. It doesnât sound like it was too serious in your care, and trust me, weâre all glad sheâs fine.
I get it, Iâve had 3 colics, 3 different horses, and the real JB is dead because of it (strangulating lipoma). Another was during later term pregnancy. Another was as a yearling, and never since in the next 20 years. I had insurance in that yearling, and you BET they excluded colic for a while after that, with zero reduction in my premiums.
I came here to vent about the predatory practices of the equine supplement market. Your unsolicited advice is unnecessary and dismissive of my frustrations. If you donât have anything helpful to say donât say anything at all.
Predatory? How is anything predatory when they are 100% up front on what their product is, and how much they believe in it?
You werenât coming here to vent about the supplement market, you came to complain about not being able to get coverage for a âdiseaseâ and blamed PP (and SP) specifically for something that is 100% normal practice in the medical industry
People HAVE appreciated your frustration. My yearling? He injured his RH when he was 4, and thankfully I made great use of the insurance I had. But guess what was no longer covered by my insurance, and still without a reduction in premiums? That leg. The WHOLE leg, not just the part he damaged. It was frustrating, but I understood.
You have not been dismissed. Beowulf simply laid out the best insurance against colics, and that is regardless of what you have or havenât been doing, and just in case you might not have been doing one of these things which, yes, is sometimes out of your control.
Youâre taking all this WAY too personally, when itâs never been any personal commentary on your management.
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Just an FYI, I havenât been reading your replies because it became obvious you werenât reading mine. Or you have a reading comprehension problem. I thought you should know before you draft another essay I wonât read.
What? Why do you think PP is just going to pay out $10k to potentially 100s of owners a year, without modeling their prices to help pay for that?
When insurance companies because refuse coverage on your horse for a preexisting condition, they donât still bill you for it as if you were.
Absolutely they do! Premiums donât get reduced when they remove coverage of certain things because they just had to pay out for that
Also, as Iâve said, I know that most other companies do this. That still doesnât make it right. But FWIW arenus and Succeed donât do this.
Have you SEEN the list of colic causes Succeed doesnât cover at all, ever? Itâs not a short list. Same end result, different method.
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But THEY donât know that.
As well, what insurance company wants to take on a known problem? They could either charge you a lot more to help recover some of the more likely pay-out, or make you wait so they can be reasonably assured this was a one-time thing
Sheâs four, she has 24/7 turnout with access to good pasture all day long this time of year and in the winter she has 24/7 access to hay. Sheâs never lived in a stall in her life and the only concentrate feed she gets is one pound of ration balancer.
And sometimes colic just happens for no reason. It doesnât sound like it was too serious in your care, and trust me, weâre all glad sheâs fine.
I get it, Iâve had 3 colics, 3 different horses, and the real JB is dead because of it (strangulating lipoma). Another was during later term pregnancy. Another was as a yearling, and never since in the next 20 years. I had insurance in that yearling, and you BET they excluded colic for a while after that, with zero reduction in my premiums.
I came here to vent about the predatory practices of the equine supplement market. Your unsolicited advice is unnecessary and dismissive of my frustrations. If you donât have anything helpful to say donât say anything at all.
Predatory? How is anything predatory when they are 100% up front on what their product is, and how much they believe in it?
You werenât coming here to vent about the supplement market, you came to complain about not being able to get coverage for a âdiseaseâ and blamed PP (and SP) specifically for something that is 100% normal practice in the medical industry
People HAVE appreciated your frustration. My yearling? He injured his RH when he was 4, and thankfully I made great use of the insurance I had. But guess what was no longer covered by my insurance, and still without a reduction in premiums? That leg. The WHOLE leg, not just the part he damaged. It was frustrating, but I understood.
You have not been dismissed. Beowulf simply laid out the best insurance against colics, and that is regardless of what you have or havenât been doing, and just in case you might not have been doing one of these things which, yes, is sometimes out of your control.
Youâre taking all this WAY too personally, when itâs never been any personal commentary on your management.
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I think of those âColic Careâ things as very expensive insurance policies that come with a free bucket of pellets.
All the usual things about equine insurance policies apply â an exclusion when any injury or incident has happened within the previous year is expected.
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