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What is Pre-existing Condition?
A pre-existing condition can be defined as an injury or illness that started prior to your pet insurance coverage or during the waiting period. If you’re choosing pet health insurance, it’s important to understand the limitations of the policy—such as treatment for pre-existing conditions, which can be included.
When you apply for pet insurance, the insurer might require a medical exam or medical records before enrolling your pet and more pet insurance companies realize that covering curable pre-existing conditions is beneficial for everyone.
Just like car insurance, which doesn’t cover accidents before coverage begins, pet insurance generally won’t cover any expenses related to ailments or injuries that are already present.
Summary of Pet Health Pre-existing Condition
Pre-existing conditions are health concerns, such as diabetes, kidney disease, or an oral infection that your dog or cat had before coverage starts for pet health insurance.
Many dogs and cat insurance plans do not cover pre-existing conditions and often require a physical before the pet insurance will begin. Enrolling in pet insurance for dogs or cats as early as possible is essential because more concerns are covered.
ASPCA Pet Health Insurance does not require a veterinary exam or medical records for enrollment. But injuries or illnesses that precede your enrollment date won’t be covered. For instant, if your dog busts a paw after tumbling down the stairs in October and you enrolled in November, medical costs related to the injury won’t be covered.
You can get pet insurance for some pre-existing conditions. Some insurers will cover curable pre-existing conditions, such as an ear infection or an oral infection. ASPCA’s pet plan will cover curable pre-existing conditions if there are no symptoms for 180 days excluding knee problems. If the condition recurs after 180 days, it will be covered as a new problem.
Being proactive can reduce your out-of-pocket expenses when issues arise. Keep reading to learn more! Even if your pet has a pre-existing condition or injury, it’s helpful to have pet health insurance for other unrelated illnesses or injuries.
Pet Health Insurance Pre-Existing Condition Cover
Due to the cost of treating pre-existing conditions, and the relatively short lifetime of a pet. For instant dogs live on average 10 to 13 years depending on the breed, and pet insurance excludes pre-existing conditions from coverage. It’s a numbers problem: Pet insurers don’t have the luxury of charging many years of premiums in order to offset claims payments for pre-existing conditions.
For instant, if your dog was limping before your waiting period and coverage started, treatment for the leg wouldn’t be covered by the plan, usually consider a pre-existing condition to be an illness or injury that started prior to coverage beginning, including any waiting period.
“It’s important to point out that even if the pet wasn’t diagnosed with an injury or illness, an insurer may still deny coverage if they show any signs or symptoms of one prior to coverage starting,” says Alex Stone, founder of Petinsurer.com, a pet insurance comparison provider.
It’s crucial to sign up for dog or cat insurance early. Pre-existing conditions aren’t pre-existing because many of these illnesses don’t appear until they are adults.
Pet health insurance can cover chronic illnesses for your cat or dog as long as they aren’t showing symptoms 6-12 months before the policy’s effective date. This is good news for pet parents because some lifelong diseases can run into thousands of dollars.
- Obtain pet health insurance as soon as possible to minimize your out-of-pocket expenses.
- Chronic conditions can be covered, but only if your pet is covered before there are signs.
- Pet health insurance is available for pets with pre-existing conditions because it will cover new, unrelated concerns that can be pricey.
Categories of Pet Pre-Existing Conditions
Pet Insurance Companies divide pre-existing conditions into two Categories: curable and incurable conditions.
Curable pre-existing conditions. Pet insurance companies such as Embrace cover curable pre-existing conditions as long as any recurrence is at least 12 months from the date of the last problem. ASPCA’s pet insurance plan will not consider a condition “pre-existing” if it’s curable and there are no symptoms for 180 days that excluding knee and ligament conditions. If the condition recurs after 180 days, it can be covered like a new problem. curable pre-existing conditions include:
- Respiratory infections
- Ear infections
- Urinary tract infections
- Bladder infections
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- ACL tear
- Broken leg
- Ear infection
- gastrointestinal infections
Incurable pre-existing conditions. These are pre-existing conditions that pet insurance companies consider incurable, they include:
- Ear infections
- Urinary tract infections
- Upper respiratory infections
- Vomiting, diarrhea
A chronic medical issue that animal insurance plans will not cover
- Diabetes
- Hip Dysplasia
- Arthritis
- Cancer
- Epilepsy