Amos and His Insurance

Amos, the limping collie, had his fourth acupuncture treatment yesterday and I do think he is a little better. One thing about acupuncture and dogs is that there is no placebo effect. As far as we know, a dog doesn't "think" he is getting better because he has pins placed in him. It either works or it doesn't.

My experience with Lucy, our now deceased golden /lab mix, was actually nothing short of miraculous. She got two extra years of her life due to acupuncture so I'm willing to hang in there for a bit. At $38 a session it seems like a relative bargain.

The big question is whether or not Amos' pet insurance will cover acupuncture. I submitted the first claim for the services last week so we will have to wait and see. I think I remember someone telling me that they do, which would be wonderful.

A few words about pet insurance, of which I am a huge fan. It seems as if companies such as Comcast, Home Depot, the Walt Disney Company and Sprint are offering their employees pet insurance as a benefit. Of course it doesn't cost the companies a dime since the employees (a tiny fraction of whom actually sign up for the benefit) pay the full cost of the perk but it is seen as a statement about the company's attitudes toward their employees. According to MSNBC, Paul Berg, Del Monte's vice president of compensation and benefits, "Nobody's going to leave or stay because of it but it shows we understand that pets are just a very, very important part of the family." It doesn't hurt, of course, that Del Monte itself entered the pet products market a few years ago.

Just the other day I got two checks for over $200 for reimbursement of some of Amos' expenses, including the $500 set of x-rays. With four months to go on this year's premium, I figured out that I have already collected all but about $75 of his yearly $400 premium in reimbursements. Mind you, Amos has the superior coverage which is about $100 more than the standard, so I think we're doing pretty well. Of course, you don't always get it back every year (and you actually don't want to if you think about it), but I still find the coverage to be a mental security blanket. VPI is our carrier if you are interested.

The major thing to remember is that the only time it is worth it to get pet insurance is when you get a puppy and there are no pre-existing conditions. Otherwise, it truly is cost-prohibitive.