A standard pet insurance policy usually includes veterinary costs incurred due to injuries, accidents, or illnesses. This includes coverage for diagnostic tests, private laboratory examinations, surgical and non-surgical treatment, and relevant medication needed for the recovery of your pet.
Accident-only pet insurance is another coverage type that helps in emergencies. Even though accident-only plans do not cover as much as a comprehensive plan, they provide inexpensive financial coverage against unanticipated injuries and accidents.
Table of Contents
Pet Insurance Cover incidents such as:
• Being bitten by other animals
• Eating a foreign object or poisonous substances
• Car accidents
• Muscle tears
• Broken eyeglasses
• Eye injuries
What Does Pet Insurance Not Cover?
Even though pet insurance assists you in managing the costs of veterinarian services to a certain extent, it will not reimburse you for everything. Pet insurance typically does not cater for the following:
- Non-essential surgeries such as spaying, neutering, tail docking, and cropping ears
- Suffered from pre-existing diseases
- Annual examinations, vaccination, and even preventive medicine for fleas and ticks
- Illness or injuries that could have been avoided
What Does a Pet Wellness Plan Cover?
A pet wellness plan may be offered as an add-on to existing pet insurance coverage and is typically not considered true insurance. Distribution of such plans need not be limited only to dogs. Cat owners with the plan attended vet visits 20% more frequently compared to those who do not have the plan, according to a survey conducted in the year 2020.
Policies like these allow you to claim for your preventative care and maintenance like:
- Annual checkups
- Feasibility exams
- Faecal tests
- Vaccinations
- Microchipping
- Deworming
- Heartworm protection
- Flea control
- Nail trimming
- Blood tests
Some companies have also introduced diverse levels corresponding to the services offered in each plan. For instance, in an elementary plan, the customer might receive annual checkups along with required feasible checks and vaccinations. The higher tier plan would include all the services of the basic plan and additional dental cleaning and spaying or neutering.
In contrast to accident and illness insurance, most wellness insurance plans have no copayments/coinsurance requirements, deductibles, or service provision limits. There is usually a flat amount of care coverage. For instance, the majority of insurers cover spaying or neutering services for pets up to about $150. Should the procedure cost $200, the remaining $50 will have to be covered by yourself.
What is not covered under a pet wellness plan?
Pet wellness plans do contribute to pet maintenance, but some limitations and exclusions still exist. These plans monitor ailments and injuries as well as:
- Pet hygiene care
- Training
- Pre-existing situations
- Pet guarding
- Medical attention
Pet insurance companies with Spaying policies
The following is a list of the leading insurance providers for pets, who all offer a plan for spaying or neutering.
Wellness plans are usually add-ons or riders. This means that they are only available for purchase if you have a comprehensive plan or an accident-only plan.
On average, plans that include spay and neuter coverage will cost $23.40 a month. Rates vary depending on the insurer and coverage. However, those plans typically range from $16-$29. Because there are so many variables, such as the plan and pet, state of residence, and other factors, the costs could be higher or lower depending on the individual.
It is also worth noting that not every plan is available in every location. However, many companies allow users to put in their ZIP code or state to view which plans their pet is eligible for. It is always safe to assume that insurers make changes to policies on a regular basis, so it’s advisable to go over the current terms and conditions of the policy before signing up your pet.
The decision to eliminate around 100 thousand pet insurance policies taken by nationwide pet insurance came to light as they announced it in June 2024. This decision came due to much stricter non-renewals expected by summer 2025. With the intention to cool down company outflows, they have decided to send written notices to the policyholders who are being removed. In other words, The company was blunt and took full responsibility upon themselves and claimed that the decision was mainly motivated by increasing prices for veterinary services.
Is pet care insurance useful if it only covers the cost of spaying and neutering a pet?
If all you intend to use pet insurance for is spaying and neutering, getting a wellbeing plan might not be the best consideration. It is true that in order to get reimbursed, you will need to include wellness coverage in another insurance plan.
On average, it’s around $280 a year for the coverage, and if this is being purchased for spay/neuter operations, then it will cost $150 for cats and $300 for dogs, which leaves most of the expenses uncovered. Overall, insurance plans do help, but finances gained by opting for these insurance policies are almost negligible.
In this manner, the cost is distributed over time with the help of wellness plans. Such a plan is suitable for people with stringent monthly budgets that do not allow them to bear the cost of a spay all at once. And if you’re already paying for the coverage, why not use the reimbursement option of the wellness plan to cover some of the spay and neuter costs? Your young pet may also require some other services which the preventive plan would take care of.
Pet insurers that offer cover for spaying and neutering
A lot of pet insurance companies will include the cost of spaying and neutering surgery when you include it in your wellness plan. For many of the companies below, there are no waiting periods for wellness coverage.
ASPCA
The ASPCA has two preventive care plans. There is a basic one and a prime one. The Basic Plan starts at $9.95 but does not include any spay or neuter procedures.
Like most plans, the Prime Plan begins at $24.95 a month. However, it has more extensive reimbursements like $150 for dental cleaning or spaying/neutering. Overall, the Prime Plan offers $450 worth of reimbursement per year for wellness exams, flea prevention, bloodwork, urinalysis, and more. In total, $450 in wellness benefits are provided per year.
Embrace
Embrace is a pet insurance provider that does not place a basic limit for spaying and neutering. Instead, their Wellness Rewards program utilizes an annual allowance for reimbursement. You can pick any of the following amounts: $250, $450, or $650. Whatever amount you decide will be the limit for all general care that is included, and reimbursement will not be provided for anything else. Care that is included are routine procedures such as a wellness exam, heartworm treatment, and dental cleaning.
The range for monthly payments is between $18.75 to $52.09. If the full allowance is utilized in a year, the individual will only be spending about $25 more than usual.
Fetch
All Fetch plans offer routine care for your animals and spaying/neutering, from the Basic level to the top tier, which is called the Prime plan. Bottom-tier packages have reimbursement of $100, while the mid-tier has a limit of $125. In addition to routine exams, vaccinations, and other Basic level services, the Prime plan also offers behavioural examinations and health certificates for your pets.
Figo
Figo’s plans have both additional and basic tiers – plus and basic. While the basic tier covers spaying and dental cleaning and has a limit of $40, the Plus tier goes a step further and pays up to $75. Though the upper limit is significantly lower compared to the rest of the market, their plans and policies do offer cushioning for well-being, well-being checks, vaccinations, and other services such as microchipping or deworming.
Both Figo and Fetch have variations in plans and prices depending on different states. For example, in California, the Wellness Plus plan is offered for $9.50, but only as an addition to the illness premium. In Washington State, it is offered as the only plan and is charged at $16.50.
Lemonade
For pets under the age of two, Lemonade has a monthly premium of around $49 for puppies and $38 for kittens, which is more than the industry average. However, the breed, age, and location of the pet have an impact on the final price. They also have other wellness plan choices like the preventive care package, which includes very basic cover such as vaccinations, wellness checking, and microchip implantation alongside spaying and neutering. For pet owners seeking care plans to prevent problems before they start, this plan is particularly appealing because it also covers costs for the owner’s pet young wellness ultrasound exam, pet young mobile services, and pet young cost check.
PetsBest
As with all things, specialist care comes at a price, so it is not surprising that PetBest plans have an EssentialWellness and BestWellness Care Aid plan with a price tag of $26-32. Similar to Basic services, Basic services also cover primaries like vaccinations and pet wellness checkups. When combined with other add-ons, which also include annual pet vaccines, tooth extractions, and neutering, a person can walk away with monthly plans that offer up to $535.
Spot
The most inexpensive of the three, Spot also promises the very best of service by including their Platinum Preventive Care plan with no-shows, which covers care services like pedicures. They provide some pocket money, for example, $150 for no-shows, and once a person goes on to sign the more expensive plans with a higher annual nominal.
How Much Does It Cost to Have a Cat Or Dog Spayed or Neutered?
The cost for a single spay or neuter operation usually ranges between $150 and $300. It will be determined by the kind of animal, i.e. cat or dog, weight, and other factors like possible medical complications during the procedure. That being said, there is a range of free and low-cost options throughout the country. You can visit the ASPCA website to find clinics that are nearby. Once you find such a clinic, inquire if you meet their qualifications.
What’s Covered Under Accidental Pet Insurance?
As the name suggests, accident-only pet insurance assists in covering medical expenses in case of a pet’s accident or injury. This includes but is not limited to broken bones, torn ACLs and swallowed objects. This type of insurance does not cover any illness or preventative healthcare.
Will Neutering Insurance Cover An Existing Condition?
A neutering or spaying surgery is used to remove the reproductive organs of your pet animal. With the above said, a pre-existing condition is determined to be any disease or ailment that your pet is suffering from before the commencement of the insurance policy. Furthermore, there are insurance plans designed for pets that may help with complications following sterilization or neutering procedures after certain waiting periods or mandatory checkups.
The Final Take
Even if you have comprehensive or accident-only pet insurance coverage, it doesn’t cater for neutering or spaying surgical procedures. In some cases, a specific wellness plan might allow giving partial reimbursement for this operation.
You’ll have to peruse the fine print closely, as only some covers are available under certain plans.
Even though this wellness coverage may allow you to pay for the cost of spaying or neutering your pet over a year, it is probably going to be useless if that is the only time your pet sets paws in a clinic throughout the year. Therefore you will have to look at the premiums and the cost of the procedure as well.
Learn more about:-
1 thought on “Does Pet Insurance Cover Spaying”