Best pet insurance for dogs 2022: insure your pup's health – Mashable

If you treat your dog like your biological child, you’ve probably at least thought about signing up for pet insurance, if you don’t already have a plan dedicated to Fido.
There’s a lot of things that can go wrong with dogs — from eating a sock to picking up a disease from the dog park — that might land them in the vet office. And when your pup ends in the vet office for an accident or illness, you end up with a fat vet bill.
Since dogs (even active ones) can be so accident and illness-prone, pet insurance will give you some peace of mind for your fur baby. We recommend pet insurance for folks who can afford a $10 to $50 premium per month, but might have a hard time paying for expensive vet bills in case of an emergency.
In general, pet insurance works similar to human insurance, with a monthly premium and annual deductible you have to meet before the plan starts paying for vet care. Where pet insurance differs though, is that they often feature a reimbursement model where you pay upfront for the veterinary care, then file a claim with the insurance company to get reimbursed.
Pet insurance usually features reimbursement rates from 70% to 90%, and sliding deductibles can range from $100 per year up to $2000 per year. Most pet insurance plans are pretty customizable, so you can select the reimbursement rate and annual deductible that works for your budget. Some plans include an annual limit as well, which puts a cap on the amount of money you can be reimbursed during one year.
Many pet insurance plans feature age limits for dogs, which is important to note before signing up. Most plans completely cut a dog’s eligibility at a certain age — usually 14. Other plans only cut enrollment at a certain age, but will cover your dog for their lifetime. We’ve also seen a rare few plans that don’t have any age restrictions, but these are more rare.
Also related to age, some plans will hike up your monthly premium as your dog gets older, so beware of that when choosing a pet insurance policy for your furry friend.
The biggest thing to keep in mind about pet insurance is that pre-existing conditions are never covered. This means that it’s best to enroll your dog young and stick with that insurance plan for their lifetime to avoid missing out on coverage for any sickness they might develop.
The vast majority of pet insurance plans only cover accidents and illnesses. This means that if your dog gets into some dangerous food or hurts themselves while playing, you’re totally covered. Some plans even cover dental care and behavioral therapy (ideal for anxious pups).
Things like preventative care, monthly flea and tick preventatives, and yearly vaccines aren’t covered under normal pet insurance plans, but most companies now have options to add on an additional wellness plan that can help with these costs. Spoiler alert though — none of the wellness plans we’ve looked into are that great. When it comes to yearly vet costs, you might be better off setting aside some money every month to cover these kinds of predictable vet costs.
We hate to tell you this, but it depends. Monthly pet insurance fees for dogs vary greatly depending on their age, their breed, their size, and where you’re located. Monthly costs for someone who lives in an extremely rural area might be higher simply because there’s not as much available veterinary care.
Your monthly price will also depend on some of your choices too — namely, the chosen deductible, annual limit, and reimbursement rate.
We found that pet insurance plans for small, young dogs tended to be the cheapest, starting at around $20 per month, while monthly pricing for larger, older dogs could get over $100 per month. Typically though, we’ve found that prices range from $40 to $80 per month on average.
If you’re ready to dig into the nitty gritty of the pet insurance world, we’ve compiled info for our top five picks for pet insurance for dogs.
If you don’t want to deal with old-fashioned insurance claims for your pet insurance, Lemonade(opens in a new tab) takes pet insurance to the digital age. Everything is handled in a user-friendly smartphone app that features immediate online reimbursements, so you won’t have to wait around for a check in the mail.
This is one of the few pet insurance companies that offers add-ons for preventative and wellness care, and for extra monthly fees, you can add on coverage for wellness exams, vaccines, monthly flea and tick preventatives, physical therapy, behavioral conditions, dental illness, and more.
Deductibles start at $100 and go up to $500, reimbursement rates range from 70% to 90%, and annual benefits max out at $100,000. Monthly prices start at $10, but usually end up costing between $30 and $40, depending on your dog’s age, breed, location, and what plan you pick.
Head to Lemonade’s website(opens in a new tab) to get a free quote.
Trupanion(opens in a new tab) sets itself apart from the rest of the pack by offering upfront payment for vet care — if your vet uses the Trupanion software. Trupanion operates using a “vet direct pay” model, which covers 90% of the cost upfront, while you pay the other 10% out of pocket as a co-pay. If your vet doesn’t have access to the Trupanion software, you can still use this insurance in a traditional claim-based way.
Trupanion also handles deductibles a little bit differently. Instead of a yearly deductible limit, you’ll pay a deductible whenever your pet develops a new condition. This means that you won’t have to pay deductibles every year for the same condition, but any new health problem means that the deductible will kick in. Deductible limits are also set by you, and you can raise or lower them as needed.
Using Trupanion’s free quote tool, we found that prices for dog coverage typically started around $40 per month for a $700 deductible, but tended to sit more around the $70 to $80 per month range.
Head to Trupanion’s website(opens in a new tab) to get a free quote.
If you’re worried about potential prescription costs for your dog, Nationwide(opens in a new tab) is a good pet insurance option. Their PetRxExpress program partners with Walmart and Sam’s Club to get you discounts on any medication your dog might need in their lifetime.
Instead of an annual deductible, Nationwide uses a per-incident deductible model, which is $50 per incident. They also utilize a benefit schedule — a set list of payout amounts for certain health conditions — to determine reimbursements. Nationwide pet insurance plans feature a $2,000 max payout per incident and a $7,000 maximum payout per calendar year.
In your plan, you’ll get coverage for accidents, illnesses, hereditary conditions, diagnostics, procedures, and some forms of alternative therapies, with the option to pay more monthly for wellness and preventative coverage.
Head to Nationwide’s website(opens in a new tab) to get a free quote.
Many dog parents get pet insurance only to never use it for the first few years, which could be seen as a waste of money. As an incentive to keep your pup insured even during the young, healthy years, Embrace(opens in a new tab) rewards you with a diminishing annual deductible that goes down $50 per year that you don’t make a claim.
Embrace also offers an additional Wellness Rewards program that covers routine vet care, including teeth cleaning, flea, tick, and heartworm preventatives, and spay and neuter surgeries. Wellness Rewards come in $250, $450, or $640 in annual allowances to use for checkups, vaccinations, and more.
Annual benefits start at $5,000 go up to $30,000 depending on the plan you choose. You can also select your yearly deductible from amounts between $200 and $1,000, and select reimbursement rates from 70% up to 90%. 
Using the free quote tool, Embrace monthly costs tend to run between $20 and $90, averaging out around $40 per month depending on the deductible, annual benefit cap, and reimbursement rate. Head to Embrace(opens in a new tab) to get a free quote based on your dog’s age, breed, size, and location.
It’s no secret that as dogs age, they start to exhibit more health problems than when they were young pups. From arthritis to kidney issues, there’s a lot to worry about as your dog gets older, and pet insurance shouldn’t be one of them. Spot(opens in a new tab) is one of the only pet insurance plans on the market that will enroll dogs of all ages.
Spot’s accident and illness plans cover congenital conditions and behavior therapies, and feature customizable deductibles and reimbursement rates. Choose from a yearly deductible from $100 up to $1,000, and a reimbursement rate of 70%, 80% or 90%. Your selected annual limit will also affect monthly pricing, and can be chosen from $2,000 up to unlimited coverage. In terms of average monthly costs for Spot, using the free quote tool, we found that prices ranged from around $20 per month up to over $300 per month depending on selected plan details, age, breed, size, and location.
Spot also offers two different preventative care packages: Gold for an extra $9.95 per month and Platinum for an additional $24.95 per month. Each of these plans covers a set amount for dental cleaning, wellness exams, certain vaccines, and more with the Platinum plan being the more comprehensive of the two.
Head to Spot(opens in a new tab) to get a free quote for your dog.
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