Did you see the June The New York Times article about pet insurance being the latest work perk? It’s true, pet parents are starting to care more about whether or not they can afford healthcare for their furry family members, and it’s time to start talking about it at your practice.

Most pet parents decide to invest in pet health insurance in case of emergencies or severe medical conditions that could happen, not necessarily to help with yearly wellness check-ups and examinations. That’s why it’s important that they be educated on the practice level about how pet health insurance wellness plans can play a significant role in a pet’s annual exams, possibly preventing any major medical conditions from being undiagnosed until it’s too late.  Here’s three ways pet health insurance wellness plans can benefit your client and your practice:

1. Pet parents tend to skip out on wellness exams between the “middle ages” for pets (roughly 3 to 8 years of age) because their pet “looks healthy”. Pet parents don’t want to spend money on an exam their pet doesn’t necessarily need. However, by having wellness insurance overall compliance on preventative checkups for this age range will increase, simply because there's no decision to make for extra out-of-pocket spending just to be reassured their pet is healthy.
2. As pet’s get older, they may require more thorough examinations to check for issues such as hyperthyroidism, kidney disease, etc. This often leads to higher priced wellness exams, or “senior packages”. If a pet parent has wellness insurance, they won't prolong the time between wellness exams or be deterred from going to them simply because of the extra cost. The result? You perform more senior wellness exams due to increased compliance and possible follow-up appointments or dental exams if needed. Plus, senior pets are being seen more regularly, which is necessary with their age.
3. Finally, who can forget wellness exams for young pets! Although compliance with younger patients tends to be better than other age ranges, having wellness insurance benefits clients because they’re creating a good habit of bringing their pet in annually and not developing a fear of the vet due to the price of services. It also gives practices the opportunity to develop a relationship with the client, which builds trust and increases the loyalty to your practice over time.

Pet health insurance wellness plans are the foundation to happy, healthy pets. The more we can get pet parents to invest in it, the more your practice, your clients and your patients will benefit from it.