Health insurance?

[paultheparrotlover]

Do you have health insurance for your bird?

[danforth3]

Yes through Veterinary Pet Insurance.

[paultheparrotlover]

Originally Posted by danforth3

Yes through Veterinary Pet Insurance.

Do you reccomend them? Have you filed any claims with them?

[Lisa B]

some people might be getting tired of this story, but i find it very helpful for insurance.

Cathy what are they getting you for insurance premiums?
they quoted me over $23 per grey per month.
thought this was rather high...considering there is a $50 deductable per incident, and then they cover a percent(not sure what it was) but they are on my lists of calls tomorrow.
I was thinking of getting the greys covered.


http://www.parrotchronicles.com/marc.../insurance.htm

[kensbuns]

I looked into it as well. Now I really think it depends on the person. But how much do you take your bird to the vet??? Once a year? Maybe? For my 2 it was 30.00 dollars a month x12. That is 300.00 per month. It would cover about 400.00 should my bird get Asperillious. Well that would not even cover the first visit plus the first 50.00 is mine to pay. They cover 300.00 of the well visit and you have to pay a 50.00 ded. plus the extra money. Sounds good but no more than I have to visit the vet it is just not cost effective. Lets say I got 4 years without having to visit the vet that is 1200.00 I could have saved. They only cover a portion of an illness. About as much as the first visit.

[paultheparrotlover]

Originally Posted by kensbuns

I looked into it as well. Now I really think it depends on the person. But how much do you take your bird to the vet??? Once a year? Maybe? For my 2 it was 30.00 dollars a month x12. That is 300.00 per month. It would cover about 400.00 should my bird get Asperillious. Well that would not even cover the first visit plus the first 50.00 is mine to pay. They cover 300.00 of the well visit and you have to pay a 50.00 ded. plus the extra money. Sounds good but no more than I have to visit the vet it is just not cost effective. Lets say I got 4 years without having to visit the vet that is 1200.00 I could have saved. They only cover a portion of an illness. About as much as the first visit.

Health insurance is by nature, a rip off. I have to self pay for my and my partner's policy and it is $500 a month. $6000 a year. A total waste of money when not used. but what if I had to have a gall bladder removed? What if I fell off a cliff?

[SweetPea]

I think health insurance is well worth it!

I always used to think it was a waste of money also...

But then I had a LITTLE incident!

Nothing major...However, as a precaution, the doctors wanted to keep me in the hospital. After the 3rd day of putting up with a crazy room mate, I couldn't take it anymore and checked myself out against my doctors wishes! They barely did anything for me in the hospital... But the bill came to well over 50Gs!!! 50Gs!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Imagine if I didn't have full coverage health insurance!!!

I wouldn't know which limb I would have to sell first to come up with the more than 50 thousand dollars to cover the hospital bill!!!

Yes... health insurance cost is ridiculous...but so are doctor bills!

[PArRoT_CrAzy11]

Originally Posted by SweetPea

I think health insurance is well worth it!

I always used to think it was a waste of money also...

But then I had a LITTLE incident!

Nothing major...However, as a precaution, the doctors wanted to keep me in the hospital. After the 3rd day of putting up with a crazy room mate, I couldn't take it anymore and checked myself out against my doctors wishes! They barely did anything for me in the hospital... But the bill came to well over 50Gs!!! 50Gs!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Imagine if I didn't have full coverage health insurance!!!

I wouldn't know which limb I would have to sell first to come up with the more than 50 thousand dollars to cover the hospital bill!!!

Yes... health insurance cost is ridiculous...but so are doctor bills!

You sure they charged you 50k maybe you mistaken it for 5k, because 50k is ridiculus!

[The Outlaw]

There's a HUGE difference in what human health insurance covers and what PET insurance covers. Frankly, I think the pet insurance is a waste of money. Its fine if you only have one bird, but if you have multiples, it can quickly wipe you out.

Frankly, if you deposited $30 a month into a special account ONLY used for vet expenses, it would not only be there for emergencies, but also pay interest. That and a credit card assigned for only vet expenses would probably be a better investment. A well bird check even with bloods, gram stains, etc. would probably not cost more than $300 and likely less. Every policy I looked at had large deductibles and limited coverage anyway. JMHO

THE OUTLAW

[Tiki]

I haven't seen health insurance offered for birds here in Australia, just cats and dogs. We have free basic health care for humans (Medicare) so I don't have to worry about emergencies so I don't even have private cover for myself. Any Aussie can use the public hospital for free. We do pay for private doctors if you want to choose your own and not be allocated one by the public system and they are expensive.

Personally, I don't need it for the birds as I have adequate credit to cover my vet bills and if it went unused, it would be a waste of money. I would think you would be better off putting what the premium would cost you in a special account for the birds and keeping it for a safety net in case of emergency. That way, it isn't wasted if you don't use it.