Has anyone used pet insurance for their horses with asthma?
I’m thinking of taking my horse to a larger vet clinic for diagnostics and I’m wondering if getting an insurance plan would be worth it, or if any of those bills would even be covered? Does anyone have experience with this? I’m located in Virginia.
Horse medical insurance long pre-dates ‘pet’ insurance. There is a lot of provider experience behind it. It evolves over time with that experience.
Anyway. If you take your horse in for diagnostics first, they won’t cover anything diagnosed as it will be a pre-existing condition.
It’s been so long since I enrolled a new horse, I don’t know if they require a medical exam first.
I’ve had horse medical insurance for many years. There were years when I had no claims and years when I had several. There were years when the insurance claims were more than the annual premium. One was more than several years’ annual premiums. They paid, promptly.
The biggest thing insurance did for me was saving the life of a horse in serious colic. Financially, he might have been beyond saving, without the insurance paying 80% of the cost (promptly & no fuss). I was on the phone with the insurance company almost every day the horse was in ICU. They were very kind and helpful as we figured out the way forward. I had to call them on Friday afternoon to warn them that the horse might not last the weekend, and with some of the admin insurance personnel not taking calls over the weekend, what should I do if the moment of decision came and I needed to proceed correctly. She told me calmly what to do if it came to that. Fortunately it didn’t. She called Monday morning to check in! Horse survived and continued living his full life.
There are various strategies people use to ‘insure’ their horse other than actual insurance. Maybe their own savings, maybe a credit card with an open balance. Care Credit is active in horse and pet insurance.
Fwiw my agent is Rhonda with Independent Equine Agents, 502-802-6371. They have made it easy for me. Rhonda found coverage in years that I didn’t think a horse could get it, due to pre-existing conditions. Right now the horse is covered through Great American, which has been doing horse insurance for a long time.
Absolutely. Mine paid out the purchase price of a mid four figure horse one year when I had a hefty vet bill year.
not full coverage but have two valuable horses under SmartPak colic coverage for several years. We have had need to use that coverage on once so far, without an issue they repaid us the $14,000 spent on the surgery
There is also a waiting period usually before the policy kicks in. All of the small animal policies I’ve looked at require a physical exam by a vet first, but I don’t know what the requirements are now for a horse.
If the horse has current symptoms of asthma or the vet you use for the exam has seen the horse previously for asthma it would be considered pre-existing and either won’t be covered or there will be an exclusion period before they will cover any bills relating to the condition.
I used a few free insurance quotes to estimate what my horse’s premium would be. I transfer those funds quarterly into a HYSA. I have my “premium payment” from 5 years ago still available for future vet bills. If something is beyond these funds (touch wood) I plan to utilize CareCredit to bridge the gap.
I mentioned this on another thread, my horse is not a ‘high dollar’ horse. He has breed paperwork and some low level USEF showing but is really just a personal use, WTC, training level dressage, give me something to groom during tax season. I didn’t pay anything for him. I may have a different tune if I had purchased a 5 figure horse, or I planned to re-sell in the future.
For those who DO have insurance, does it pay out an estimated market value in the event of death? Sort of like car insurance? Would that be the argument as to why one SHOULD purchase insurance on a high dollar horse, as to not lose your investment? Genuinely curious, I have never been in that situation.
You can get a quote online from ASPCA pet insurance. They cover horses, cats and dogs - not sure what else. They give you some options as to what level of coverage you want. Very reasonable and no exam required. Just age, breed, state, etc. I used them (tho didn’t make any claims) to insure a lower priced horse that I didn’t want mortality on, just medical.
It’s likely too late in this case. When I first insured my horse I was required to provide his last vet report (I used his PPE) and sign a statement saying I wasn’t aware of any additional problems. Since your horse already has symptoms you would have to disclose those or risk having the policy invalidated for fraud.
As for whether insurance is worth it or not in general, I think it depends on your situation. I like having it so I’ll never have to worry about money if something catastrophic happens, and the premiums are pretty reasonable so it’s not a huge drag on my finances. I don’t actually expect to come out ahead financially, but it only takes one major emergency to flip that on its head and I’d rather not have that hanging over me.
Mortality and major medical are separate policies. You can just get mortality coverage if you want, but you must have mortality in order to add a major medical policy. Most companies have a minimum value that they’ll insure plus age restrictions, so not every horse will qualify. Unlike car insurance the horse’s insured value is agreed upon up front and the premiums are set accordingly.
I also have ASPCA insuraance on my horse…accident and colic coverage. Premium is about $30 a month. Horse spent 6 days in the horse hospital for a colic. They paid very fairly and quickly.
I had to pay the hospital bill and then submit it to them for payment.
I have Jarvis, and while I haven’t had to use it, it helps ease my mind knowing it’s there.
I have mortality + surgery.
Rates can vary significantly based on the horse’s value and usage. It’s worth getting a few quotes. Look carefully at what they cover and what they don’t.
Depending on your insurer (and how well your agent knows the insurance), even if something is excluded for the year following a treatment, if there are no recurrences later sometimes they will allow it to be covered again at a later date. Not if something is chronic, so not sure the asthma will ever pass. But if a horse has something like a suspensory, at some point with no further issues they will cover for it again. It’s always worth asking.
My current horse has a lifelong exclusion for back issues, as he has had several over the years.
But, that almost means I need coverage even more, for everything else. If I have to spend out of pocket for the excluded item, then it will help to have coverage for everything else.
One of the most important things every owner needs to do, and almost none of us think about, is plan ahead for 'what do I do if … ’ and think of various serious veterinary scenarios.
Surgery, and/or extended ICU stay with ongoing treatment – cap amount you will spend – options based on prognosis – what condition would mean that it is better to euth.
Those considerations can be very hard to sort out in an urgent situation, and/or a highly emotional moment. I realized this in just such a situation.
We need to write it down where we can easily find it when needed. Even in a private cellphone or private online storage where we can reach it at any moment. It’s not a commitment to a certain path of action that might not fit a moment, but it’s a helpful guideline in a stressful moment.
Also, one of the best things we can do for our BM is to write up a page or two with our horse’s insurance information, contact numbers, emergency numbers … and if we can’t be reached, who to call OR just what authorization we are giving the BM and vet for a critical emergency euth. Sign and date it. There have been tragic incidents when a horse was in dire condition and the owner couldn’t be reached, whatever the reason. (One time because the owner was on an extended trip to rural China.)
I just did a continuing education lecture (for CPA’s and financial planners) on a similar vein (bear with me). It was about will, advanced directives, estate planning. The presenter relayed his own experiences. They have re-done their personal paperwork 3 times. The first time he thought he did a good job with his last wishes. When they went to add the 3rd child some many years later he realized that his advanced directives, end of life care, etc were not clear or specific enough. Too much ambiguity, too many choices to be made by people (kids, wife) who may not be in a good mental state to make the decisions.
The THIRD time around he still didn’t think it was clear enough, some years later, so he made it incredibly specific. And provided reasons. This eliminated any ambiguity or and GUILT if one kids has to make a decision.
To tie it back to @OverandOnward’s post, we need to have a plan in place during a very emotionally charged situation. I like the idea of a singular document. And then maybe some reasons “Remember when Maresy ponied your pregnant self for 8 months like an angel?” or “We did XYZ together, Dobbin owes me nothing else”
And put a DATE on everything!
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