The majority of Americans who have health insurance are able to afford it because it come to them through their employer. Some employers are starting to include coverage for pet insurance. This can make it much easier for pet owners to take good care of their dogs and cats.
It is absolutely vital that people have affordable health insurance coverage. Those that don’t have it either hold off getting the health care they need until a minor issue becomes a serious one, or they end up in debt from medical bills. Your employer sponsored health insurance can cover you, your spouse, and your children.
What about your pets? A standard health insurance plan is only going to cover the human members of your family. This leaves pet owners with the problem of trying to fit the cost of pet insurance into their budgets. In many ways, you can think of pet insurance as a health insurance plan for dogs and cats.
November is open enrollment month. Those of you who are currently covered by an employer sponsored health insurance plan should be getting a packet or envelope that contains information about the changes that have been made to your health plan since you signed up for it last year. Somewhere within that bundle of information there should be a form for you to fill out if you want to continue your health insurance coverage for another year.
Some companies have started offering employer sponsored pet insurance plans. You might need to specifically ask about if you can get this type of coverage, and what it will cost. If your employer offers it, the process should be very similar to how the health insurance is run. You pay for part of the cost of the insurance out of your paycheck, and your employer pays for the rest of it.
VPI is a Nationwide Insurance company that is well known for the pet insurance policies that they offer. You can go to their website to check and see if the company you work for already offers VPI Pet Insurance. If they do, you can enroll online. This might be easier than going through the Human Resources person at your workplace.
In 2011, VPI added around 400 big companies to its existing list of 2,200 groups that offer pet insurance coverage as a employee benefit. It is reasonable to assume that this list has grown since then.
If you work for a nationwide, large, corporation, there is the potential that you can get affordable pet insurance through your employer. If you are working for a smaller company, this might not be an option. It can’t hurt to check, though.
Image by Todd Dwyer on Flickr