With many recent publications slating veterinary pricing, you have probably been part of veterinary bills discussions. You might have heard people saying how expensive veterinary bills are. So does insurance actually make it more expensive?
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Well, let’s answer that one right away: pet insurance will not drive vet bills up directly
You can only use your pet insurance once a veterinary bill is above a certain threshold, as you must cover your excess fee per condition meaning most general veterinary bills will not be covered by pet insurance. Pet insurance is there to help you afford large veterinary bills which will occur for ongoing medical conditions, or in cases where your pet has become suddenly poorly. General check-ups, medication reviews and vaccinations will not be covered by your pet insurance.
Each diagnostic test, each medication, each hospitalisation fee has a fixed rate fee for each veterinary practice and will not change according to whether you have pet insurance or not (we’re actually banned from charging more for an insured patient). Each diagnostic test should be discussed with you prior to it being performed and estimates should be given too. This helps you to stay within a set budget if you have one. You can also ask your veterinary professional why they are performing certain tests; and what the different outcomes would achieve should you wish to gain more information before these tests are performed. Veterinary professionals do not want to cause additional stress to your pet by performing extra diagnostic tests if they are not needed. We put your pet’s health at the forefront of our work.
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Insurance lets us do more, not charge more for the same thing
If you do have pet insurance or enough funding, veterinary professionals are able to perform more testing if it is needed, and are therefore able to obtain more information regarding your pet’s health without having the financial constraints that they may face if someone did not have the financial flexibility. The more tests performed, the higher the bill is in general. More testing is almost always useful because instead of just doing one test to rule out a disease, they may perform multiple tests to ensure they have gained adequate information regarding your pet’s health and general profile. Being thorough with medical testing allows identification of any diseases early on. And it also helps us to choose medication that would be best
Being insured commonly allows for a higher standard of care to be provided, although not always. It is dependent on your financial situation; as some people are more than happy to pay for all of the required tests. Should your pet need referral level treatment, this will cost more than your general practice’s fees. This is because of the higher knowledge level and additional training their employees have been through. As well as the more expensive and most up to date facilities, equipment and drugs they have access to.
Does insurance indirectly raise prices?
That’s a more interesting question. Certainly, medical inflation is a big deal. As we can do more, we want to do more, and that pushes bills up. So does pet insurance accelerate that process? It would make sense – whereas in an uninsured world with no health service, only the wealthy can afford more than basic first aid, the more people who can afford long term medications, surgery, scans, chemotherapy etc, the more those services become available, and therefore the higher the bills become.
However, a rising average bill doesn’t mean a rise in the bill of a particular procedure. It’s very difficult to determine how much of medical inflation is due to insurance, and how much is due to background inflation, wage inflation, and (more recently) shortages of staff.
So does insurance put an upward pressure on bills? Probably, a little. But it puts a much more significant upward pressure on patient quality of life, and probably lifespan too: at what point is that a bad thing?
Why are vets bills so high then?
Fortunately, in the United Kingdom, the National Health Service pays for the majority of our medical treatment; making us blissfully unaware of how expensive any good-quality medical treatment and the specialist equipment behind it is. Remember, veterinary professionals want what is best for your pet, in the same way that you do. We will work collaboratively with you to ensure we can provide the best level of care within your budget and within your ability to administer medication and provide a good quality life.
If you think something isn’t appropriate for your pet – just say so. We’re not going to blame or judge you. We want to work with you to do the best for your pet as an individual – and for you. If you have a financial limit, tell us up front and we’ll try and find a way of working within it.
Insurance is usually worth it
If you would like your pet to receive the highest level of veterinary care and cannot afford large, one-off veterinary bills, we strongly recommend obtaining pet insurance. Pet insurance involves paying a monthly subscription; which then means the insurance company will pay for any veterinary bills above a flexible, pre-agreed excess fee, providing the medical condition is not excluded from your policy. If you can afford large bills that are unpredictable as to when they may occur, you may not need pet insurance.
Having pet insurance will not make your veterinary bills more expensive; that is a really bad reason not to get it!
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