Healthy Paws | Pet Insurance Review

So glad I got this insurance! My 3 year old lab gets himself into tons of trouble. This time it was rat bait ingestion. After a weekend at the emergency vet he is fine. Having insurance made it so much easier to give Tank the best care and treatment possible. I chose this company because they do not have annual or even lifetime maximums. Human insurance companies could learn a lot from the nice people here at Healthy Paws. They always process my claims quickly. Highly recommend.

After a friend's dog got bone cancer and it cost $12k+ for treatment (and it's not over yet), and her pet insurance helped enormously. I thought, I could never pay that if something happened to my pets, which was a wake-up call to investigate insurance, although I thought my pets might be rejected because they're older (large breed dog 10yrs old, cat 13 yrs old) but Healthy Paws was able to cover them ($750 deductible and 60% reimbursement rate because of their age--for younger pets you can get higher coverage) for about $80 a month combined, so I decided it would be worth it. And holy smoke was it ever! I just got the insurance about 6 weeks before my cat Newfie went in for a routine dental cleaning and within 2 days was in intensive care with aspiration pneumonia, heart failure, and sepsis. Then he developed hepatic lipidosis from not eating. He was constantly on the verge of death and every day involved discussion with the vets morning and evening and me agonizing over whether to give up on treatment, but there was always a good reason to try one more day. I was incredibly stressed about the money, but thought, hopefully Healthy Paws really WILL cover 60% of this, and bit the bullet. If I had not had insurance I would have had to give up on him within 3 or 4 days. On the 7th day, he started eating and his blood pressure normalized, he got more stable, and on the 8th day although he was very weak and barely eating, I was able to take him home! He gradually got stronger and now, about 2 weeks out, he is almost like nothing ever happened! During this time he had multiple chest xrays, many hours in an oxygen chamber, repeated bloodwork, blood pressure checks every few hours around the clock, cardiologist consult/echocardiogram, internal medicine specialist handling his case, a nasal feeding tube, IV fluids, all kinds of drugs, etc. Plus a recheck appointment and ongoing prescriptions at home. The total cost has been almost $11,000. And he will have ongoing meds and follow-ups for the rest of his life for his heart. Well, Healthy Pets does not have a per-incident or a per-year or even a lifetime cap on benefits. My friend's insurance (24PetWatch) had a $10k limit per year, which she surpassed a few thousand dollars ago and has been paying for chemo, recheck xrays, etc. out of pocket. Then a few weeks ago the metal plate in his leg broke and they had to either do the whole surgery again (about $10k more) or amputate. She chose the second surgery. But now she has thousands and thousands of dollars on her credit cards. Newfie's invoices were super complicated because of repeated deposits the hospital required, then I'd get a refund or pay more based on the actual cost every 24 hours--they gave me a several pages long statement. I submitted online (Wow, it literally took 1-2 minutes--fill in a few lines and attach your invoice.) But I am new to this, I couldn't figure out how to fill in a couple of the lines and wanted to make sure they wouldn't find some reason to nitpick or delay so I called and asked them to confirm whether I did it right and whether they could use the "statement" instead of individual invoices. The customer service rep said, "Well let me just look at it while we're on the phone...yes, that's all fine, and we can work with the statement." Because it was his first claim they wanted medical records for the previous 3 years in addition to the current ones, so I asked my vets to send them. Within a couple days I got an email saying the claim was completed and a check would be forthcoming. (You can also sign up for direct deposit.) They include an easy-to-read interpretation of how they arrived at the reimbursement amount. I thought they would go through line by line and maybe question or disallow certain things especially because I literally had been a client only a few weeks when I had this huge claim. But they didn't, they paid 60% of everything (after the deductible), except for the recheck exam. They don't cover regular visit exam fees. But they did cover the exams during his hospitalization. Sorry this is so long and detailed, but if you are worrying about the same kinds of things I worried about when choosing insurance, I hope reading this in-depth example will help. I am so, so grateful that Healthy Pets paid for so much of this cost; by making it financially possible for me to continue treatment long enough for my cat to turn the corner, they literally saved his life.

In 2010, we got our pup and did our due diligence in pet insurance research to make sure we planned for our dog, Zach. Friends and family would tease us about the money we were "wasting" on this insurance when there were cheaper options available; however, we felt most comfortable with Healthy Paws after comparing all the plans and company reputation. 6+ years flew by and we rarely ever used the insurance but was happy that our dog was living a happy and healthy life. Unfortunately, 2017 was not so smooth. After finding a cyst and bladder stones, the doctor visits and surgeries were enough to stress any pet parents out. One thing we did not have to worry about (thanks to our original research) is having the added financial burden or making the unthinkable decision between financial obligations and getting our furry family member the best care possible. Thanks to Healthy Paws, Zach got access top vets who diagnosed issues that could have easily continued to be missed or misdiagnosed. Their processes make it so much easier and straightforward for pet parents who are stressed about their fur babies, and I could not imagine being a responsible pet parent without having them as the insurance we can indeed count on.

We've been a member for over three years now. Our family has had an exceptional experience with Healthy Paws for this time. Our English Bulldog had a major surgery and was recently very ill. Because of Healthy Paws, our baby was well taken care of. Like most pet owners, our dog is a member of our family. We are thankful for the efficiency and caring of Healthy Paws. I would highly recommend this company for Bully owners!

I write this review while in the midst of one of the most challenging periods in my life. My dog is seriously ill and I am awaiting the results of a test run by a specialist. I have been doing little else besides waiting for the phone to ring and taking care of my other animals. Nonetheless I am making time to acknowledge the simply outstanding care and service I have received as a Healthy Paws client. Without both the robust coverage afforded me by their policies, and their above and beyond customer service, I can honestly say my dog might not be alive right now. I have been a client with Healthy Paws for five years now and have received many time more in medical coverage for my dogs than my deductibles. It is absolutely a no brainer for me. My Healthy Paws coverage is as critical to my dog ownership as food or shelter. I enthusiastically recommend Healthy Paws to everyone remotely interested in providing for theirs dog's health care.