It seems that you
do everything possible to care for your horse and now you are faced with a
sudden and unexpected veterinary bill and not just any old vet bill, its thousands of dollars. This can easily occur with a colic, treated surgically or medically. It may even
occur with a founder or a severe eye injury.
What would you do in this situation?
Do you have this kind of cash on hand or sufficient space on your credit
card? It is far better to have a plan
now before having to make the financial decisions under a stressful medical
circumstance.
For the
disciplined, a savings account is by far the best as there are no fees, no
premiums and your money earns interest.
Ideally, one needs $4000 to $5000 for the typical colic surgery, this amount would likely cover most other
severe or chronic medical problems.
However, if you are like me, even if you could save that amount of
money, it would likely be eventually spent on some other toy for me or my
horse. Then you are right back to zero.
What happens if your horse gets sick that day after you put the down payment on
that new truck or horse trailer with your savings. An alternative is to purchase insurance on your horse. Another benefit with this
approach is you also get a mortality clause and will get paid if your horse
dies or is euthanized even after extensive treatment. Although nothing will replace your horse, the money will help you get back in the saddle.
There a few different types of insurance to consider.
There is a mortality only policy which only pays if the horse dies, it does not pay any medical expenses involved
with an illness leading up to the death and this is why I do not typically
recommend this approach. In order to
collect on the mortality policy, you must provide all treatment and get the
insurance companies approval prior to euthanasia in order to collect on the
policy. It is possible that the medical
bills may exceed to amount of the policy.
Another type of policy is the surgical or colic policy, this usually includes a mortality policy and a policy to pay for any surgery or procedure that is considered necessary to save
the life of the horse. This would
include colic treatment or surgery. It
will not pay for non-life threatening problems such as eye injuries,
lacerations, laminitis or any other common accidents or illnesses, or this you need a major medical policy and this type of policy is more expense than just a colic policy. To keep in mind though when choosing that there are many conditions that are not surgical or life threatening that can
cost just as much as one that is…
For the truly
valuable animal there is loss of use insurance.
However, this is very expensive and requires numerous x-rays and a
pre purchase style examination of the horse to determine eligibility. This insurance frequently does not pay the
total value of the animal (depends on the degree of loss of use) and you give
up the animal when you file the claim.
The horse then becomes the property of the insurance company to dispose of
as they wish. I know many owners would
not be comfortable with that. You can
keep the horse but this will reduce the pay out.
Another possibility
is PreventiCare insurance. This is
provided by Pfizer. It involves using
their daily Strongid C dewormer bought from your veterinarian along with a
program of health maintenance verified by that veterinarian; here is no cost; however, it only covers surgical colic and only 2 days of after-care.
There is no mortality policy and no other surgical or medical problems
are covered.
With all the
policies discussed above, you will have to pay the hospital, and then be
reimbursed by the insurance company after filing a claim. So this does depends on you having money or credit up front to pay the bill. Some but not all hospitals may be willing to
wait if they know that the insurance company will pay so you should chose a
company with a proven track record of paying on time with little hassles. heck with local hospitals in your area to
see which ones they like to deal with as it may sway your decisions between
companies. Most companies require yearly
exams before initiating and renewing polices and require reporting of previous
major problems. All policies carry a
limit on how much they will pay per incident and there is a deductible per
incident not per year that is usually $250 so be sure to compare this when
deciding between companies. You will
need to notify the insurance company immediately when there is a serious
condition developing and let your horse caretakers know the name and phone
number of your insurance company.
Having made
arrangements prior to a difficult situation will ease the tensions and you can then provide the best care for your
horse without financial worry.