Helping pets every day |
Claim paid $1,712.70 on 5/16/2012 for Maddie, Dog age 3 Mixed Breed from Greensboro, North Carolina | Claim paid $703.35 on 5/16/2012 for Elmo, Dog age <1 Mixed Breed from Port Coquitlam, British Columbia | Claim paid $1,224.57 on 5/16/2012 for Charlie, Dog age 1 Mixed Breed from Yorktown Hgts, New York | Claim paid $630.59 on 5/16/2012 for Ruby, Dog age 9 English Springer Spaniel from Houston, Texas | Claim paid $2,558.35 on 5/16/2012 for Buster, Dog age 11 Labrador Retriever from Monument, Colorado | Claim paid $2,541.64 on 5/16/2012 for Buster, Dog age 11 Labrador Retriever from Monument, Colorado | Claim paid $2,879.41 on 5/16/2012 for Lila, Dog age 2 Mixed Breed from Sterling, Oklahoma | Claim paid $3,498.72 on 5/16/2012 for Skype, Dog age 2 Golden Retriever from Vancouver, British Columbia | Claim paid $852.30 on 5/16/2012 for Bella, Dog age <1 Bulldog from Miller place, New York | Claim paid $1,786.55 on 5/16/2012 for Buster, Dog age 11 Labrador Retriever from Monument, Colorado | Claim paid $801.87 on 5/16/2012 for Ava, Dog age 6 Boston Terrier from Grimsby, Ontario | Claim paid $2,188.62 on 5/16/2012 for Ella, Dog age <1 Labrador Retriever (Chocolate) from Huntington, New York | Claim paid $577.20 on 5/16/2012 for Daisy, Dog age 4 Mixed Breed from Calgary, Alberta | Claim paid $718.78 on 5/16/2012 for Patch, Dog age 7 Jack Russell Terrier from Calgary, Alberta | Claim paid $613.08 on 5/16/2012 for Maverick, Dog age 7 Mixed Breed from Edmonton, Alberta | Claim paid $683.73 on 5/16/2012 for Corona, Dog age 5 Chihuahua (Short Coat) from Calgary, Alberta | Claim paid $2,949.05 on 5/16/2012 for Bonnie, Dog age 8 Boston Terrier from Cincinatti, Ohio | Claim paid $656.06 on 5/16/2012 for Kinta, Cat age 10 Mixed Breed from Surrey, British Columbia | Claim paid $2,035.65 on 5/16/2012 for Phinneus, Dog age 1 Shih Tzu from Las Vegas, Nevada | Claim paid $596.77 on 5/16/2012 for Chloe, Dog age 5 Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier from Toronto, Ontario |
Rising Costs of Veterinary Care
Increasing Popularity of Pet Insurance
An indicator to the increasing popularity of pet insurance is in large part due
to veterinary technological advancements and the rising costs of veterinary medicine.
Based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics veterinary services have risen an estimated
79% from 2000 to 2010 and veterinary fee inflation has averaged 5.6% per year since
2000.1
1Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Consumer Price
Index, 2000 and 2010 editions.
Veterinary inflation is not the only cause of increased veterinary spending and
an increased need for pet medical insurance. More technological advances, once reserved
for humans, are now becoming widely available for pets. Items such as CAT scans,
MIRs, organ transplants, pacemakers, radiation therapy and chemotherapy are amongst
a rapidly growing trend among veterinarians. Most recently, some hospitals have
even started offering canine bone marrow transplants running at $15,000.
As shown below, most veterinarians feel that veterinary costs are rising too quickly
for their clients, thus increasing the appeal for pet health insurance for both veterinarians and pet owners.
In a study done by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) pet owners
spent $24.5 billion on veterinary medicine in 2006 which is more than double what
was spent 10 years prior.2
2U.S. Pet Ownership & Demographics Sourcebook. 2007. American Veterinary
Medical Association.
Below is a sample chart of claims paid by Trupanion:
|
|
Treatment
|
Cost
|
|
|
Ingesting foreign body
|
$7,552
|
|
|
Stomach bloat (GDV)
|
$13,526
|
|
|
Acute liver failure
|
$5,767
|
|
|
Seizures
|
$1,605
|
|
|
Hit by car
|
$9,560
|
|
|
Cruciate ligament tear
|
$5,439
|
|
|
Vomiting and Diarrhea
|
$1,767
|
|
|
Cancer (sarcoma)
|
$5,351
|
|
|
Broken leg
|
$3,856
|
|
|
Ear infection
|
$4,253
|
|
|
Stick lodged in between molars
|
$1,656
|
|
|
Diabetes
|
$8,550
|
