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Our Take
Healthy Paws helps cat and dog owners protect their pets through low-cost pet insurance with no lifetime coverage limits. Using the company’s intuitive mobile app, you can submit your claim by taking a picture of your invoice and get reimbursed in a little as 48 hours.
- Pros and Cons
- Key Takeaways
- Specifications
No annual coverage limits
Quick and easy claims process
Tool compares rates and terms with competitors
Limited policy customization
No wellness plan available
No discounts or flexible payment options
Limited coverage for older pets
- Healthy Paws offers basic accident and illness pet insurance with unlimited lifetime coverage.
- Submitting a claim is as easy as snapping a picture of your invoice with your phone.
- Compare rates and coverage with other providers in detail right on the website.
- Year Founded 2009
- Deductible $100 to $500
- Types of Services Available Accident and illness insurance
- Additional Features Direct vet pay
- Official Website https://www.healthypawspetinsurance.com/
Healthy Paws offers low-priced pet insurance to ensure that dog and cat owners can afford to care for their sick or injured pets. The company offers unlimited lifetime coverage, a choice of deductibles and reimbursements, and a quick and easy way to submit claims.
We review Healthy Paws’ coverage details and exclusions, add-on services, pricing, customer service, ratings, and more to help you decide if its plans are right for you.
Company Overview: Low Prices and Fast Claims
Founded in 2009, Healthy Paws was the result of a chance meeting between a former corporate executive and an insurance professional at a local no-kill animal shelter. Since then, the company has helped pet parents care for their sick and injured pets and contributed financially to hundreds of pet rescues and animal shelters.
Healthy Paws does away with the menu of annual coverage limits, replacing it with unlimited lifetime coverage for every policy. That means you can choose the best care for your pet for their whole life without worrying about maxing out your benefits.
Healthy Paws has an average rating on Yelp and an excellent rating on Trustpilot. Some Yelp reviews complain about the company increasing premiums without notice, especially for older pets. Most positive reviews on Trustpilot, however, praise Healthy Paws for its fast claims processing and reimbursement.
Healthy Paws’ insurance policies are underwritten by Chubb which has an A+ rating for financial stability from AM Best.
Policies Available: Accident and Illness
Healthy Paws offers straightforward accident and illness insurance with limited customization options. All policies come with no lifetime coverage caps or limits and let you choose from the following coverage options:
- Deductible: $100, $250, $500
- Reimbursement: 70%, 80%, 90%
Although some pet insurance companies only offer accident-only policies for older pets, Healthy Paws will cover pets aged six and older with a full accident and illness policy with unlimited lifetime coverage, a $500 deductible, and 70% reimbursement for covered services.
The following services and conditions are covered by all Healthy Paws accident and illness policies:
- Hereditary, congenital, and chronic conditions
- Cancer
- Diagnostic treatment
- X-rays, blood tests, ultrasounds
- Surgery
- Hospitalization
- Prescription medications
- Emergency care
- Specialty care
- Acupuncture, chiropractic care, and hydrotherapy
- Euthanasia (when medically necessary)
You will need to wait 15 days after your date of enrollment before filing any accident or illness claims and 12 months for illnesses related to hip dysplasia. Any claims filed before your waiting periods are up will be denied.
Healthy Paws also requires you to get a full exam for your pet either before the start of your policy or within a set time after enrollment based on the age of your pet:
- Five and under: Within the last 12 months (or within 15 days after)
- Six and over: Within the last 30 days (or within 15 days after)
Plan Exclusions: Pre-Existing Conditions
Healthy Paws offers the standard coverage exclusions for pre-existing conditions as well as the following services. It’s important to note that you will need to pay for any exam and office visit fees out of pocket since they aren’t covered by your policy.
- Wellness and preventative care
- Examination fees
- Dental healthcare
- Spaying and neutering
- Cosmetic or elective procedures
- Injury or illness due to any intentional or neglectful act
- Behavioral treatment
- Non-FDA treatment or supplements
- Breeding or conditions relating to breeding
- Experimental or investigational treatment or medicine
- Pet diets
- Daycare/boarding
Healthy Paws will also cover certain dental procedures related to injuries, such as a chipped tooth, extraction, and reconstruction of damaged teeth. However, dental cleanings and extractions due to decay are not covered.
Cost: Low Premiums and Basic Coverage
Healthy Paws offers some of the lowest premiums we’ve seen in all of our reviews. With that said, the company’s policies have some noticeable deficits, such as no coverage for exams or dental services, no optional wellness plan, and no special coverage riders.
We used Healthy Paws’ online quote builder to create the following two policies.
Accident and illness insurance for a mixed breed, medium (31–59 lbs.), three-year-old, female dog with unlimited coverage, a $500 deductible, and 80% reimbursement came to $27.22 per month.
Accident and illness insurance for a domestic longhair, one-year-old, male cat with unlimited coverage, a $500 deductible, and 80% reimbursement came to $11.68 per month.
Healthy Paws also charges a one-time administration fee of $25 to start your policy. Although the company doesn’t offer any healthy pet or multiple-pet discounts, for every friend you refer, it will donate $25 on your behalf to help homeless pets. The referral program is not available in Maine, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Vermont, or Washington.
You can also get a full refund of any paid premiums if you cancel your policy within 30 days and haven’t submitted any claims.
Healthy Paws doesn’t reimburse you for exam and office visits for covered services, so be prepared to pay those out of pocket.
Customer Service: Mobile App and Online Portal
Healthy Paws has worked hard to simplify its claims process. All you need to do is take a photo of your vet bill and upload it through the online customer center or via the company’s mobile app. You can also submit your claim via email, fax, or mail.
Healthy Paws states that most claims are processed within 10 days. Once completed, your reimbursement will be issued within 24 hours. You can choose to receive your reimbursement by mailed check or have it directly deposited to your bank during business hours. Healthy Paws also offers the option to reimburse your vet directly so all you’ll need to pay is your portion of the bill during checkout.
Healthy Paws offers phone and email support Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. PT.
Submitting a claim is as simple as uploading a picture of your vet pill through the Healthy Paws website or mobile app. No claim form is required.
Competition: Healthy Paws vs. Petplan
We compared Healthy Paws to Petplan which also offers basic accident and illness insurance, customizable policies, and no available wellness plan. Side-by-side, Petplan appears to offer the same coverage as Healthy Paws for $10 more per month. When you dig deeper, however, you’ll see that you get a lot more for your money with Petplan.
Not only does Petplan cover exams and office visits, which are excluded in Healthy Paws’ policies, Petplan also offers paid add-on riders that add coverage for lost pets, boarding fees, trip cancellation, and virtual vet visits.
Overall, if you’re looking for basic accident and illness coverage, we think it’s worth paying a little extra for what Petplan offers.
Healthy Paws | Petplan | |
---|---|---|
Animals covered | Dogs and cats | Dogs and cats |
Example cost | $26.79 to insure a two-year-old dog with no annual coverage limit, 80% reimbursement, and a $500 deductible | $37.67 to insure a two-year-old dog with no annual coverage limit, 80% reimbursement, and a $500 deductible |
Coverage type | Accident and illness | Accident and illness |
Waiting period | Accidents: 15 days Illnesses: 15 days |
Accidents: 15 days Illnesses: 15 days |
Network size | Any licensed vet in the U.S. | Any licensed vet in the U.S.and Canada |
On the whole, we weren’t all that impressed with Healthy Paws compared to many other providers that offered basic accident and illness insurance. Although the company’s premiums are impressive for a plan with no annual limits, its lack of optional coverage options makes it lag behind its competitors, based on our methodology. At the very least, we would like to have had the option to add coverage for exam fees and vet visits. A few other coverage riders for boarding, trip cancelation, cremation and burial, and wellness coverage would also benefit pet owners.
Although Healthy Paws does offer some of the simplest and most straightforward plans and easiest claims process we’ve seen, we recommend you shop around and find a provider that offers a little more coverage for your money.