The majority of veterinarians agree: Pet health insurance helps ensure that clients say “yes” to more care and provide the best possible treatment. An American Veterinary Medical Association policy encourages proactive pet insurance education, and as more research on the benefits of insurance is published, practice teams are eager to get clients on board.
Here’s a step-by-step guide you can implement to ensure that you and your team take the best approach toward pet insurance to facilitate better outcomes for patients, clients and staff. By following the guidelines, you can provide valuable information to pet owners, helping them make well-informed decisions about pet insurance and ultimately improving the overall quality of pet care.
1. Promote More Than One Option
Recommending a single insurance carrier can have legal consequences for a veterinary professional or practice manager. In many jurisdictions, individuals who are not licensed insurance producers cannot offer specific insurance recommendations. Therefore, be aware of the regulations and emphasize the importance of comparing options.
Also, take into account the ethical considerations. The AVMA Code of Ethics states that veterinary professionals should offer clients unbiased information and recommendations about care that is in the animal’s best interest. When it comes to pet insurance, no plan or provider is universally better than the rest. Each insurance product has benefits and coverage limitations that might be more or less suited to a pet’s unique needs. Practices that recommend one carrier exclusively might limit clients’ options and impede their ability to make fully informed decisions.
Finally, suggesting the wrong option can lead to negative client experiences if they enroll in a policy that doesn’t adequately solve their needs. Though pet insurance has been found to decrease stress in the office and strengthen client loyalty, blind or subjective recommendations can backfire, resulting in more disputes and negative reviews while reducing client retention rates and business revenue.
To help veterinary professionals avoid liability issues, the American Animal Hospital Association recommends that veterinary teams refer clients to an online marketplace or comparison tool that provides personalized recommendations.
2. Train Your Entire Team
Train your staff to discuss pet insurance more broadly by recommending educational resources rather than specific carriers. This approach limits liability and prevents client confusion. By reinforcing a consistent message across your team, you’ll be more likely to make pet insurance work for your practice.
To ensure a successful discussion with clients, provide a list of responses that everyone in the office can use. You can tailor the responses to address common concerns, showcase the benefits of pet insurance and guide clients in making informed decisions.
Here are some example talk tracks:
- “Pet insurance can give you peace of mind by covering expensive accidents and illnesses you don’t see coming.”
- “It’s important to consider multiple options and compare insurance plans.”
- “Free online resources can help you compare plans based on your pet’s unique needs.”
3. Educate Clients About Coverage
Proactive client education is another key element in successful conversations and higher enrollment rates. One effective strategy is incorporating the insurance discussion into routine visits and checkups at appropriate life stages.
For example, visits by new puppies or kittens are ideal moments to discuss insurance, as younger pets tend to be more accident-prone, and insurance is one option that can help protect against unexpected veterinary bills. It’s also a great time to inform clients that pet insurance does not cover pre-existing conditions. So, even though their pets might be healthy now, clients might want to consider enrolling sooner rather than later to avoid paying out-of-pocket veterinary bills down the line.
Additionally, mention that pet owners typically face higher veterinary costs in the first year of ownership and that some providers offer wellness coverage to offset those expenses.
While it’s worth noting that annual premiums typically increase as pets age, inform clients that some providers offer the flexibility to customize policies, allowing them to adjust the coverage according to a pet’s specific needs and the owner’s budget concerns.
4. Share Breed-Specific Concerns and Costs
Another effective approach is to discuss breed-specific health issues and their related costs. Educate clients about the hereditary conditions a pet might be at risk of developing. For example, if a pet’s breed is prone to hip dysplasia, mention that the treatment costs can be substantial. Pet insurance can help by reimbursing a percentage of those bills. However, not all policies cover the same conditions, so comparing plans specific to each pet’s needs is essential.
5. Reinforce the Recommendation
To ensure that pet insurance stays at the top of mind with clients after an office visit, reinforce the recommendation by:
- Sending clients home with follow-up information about pet insurance. Include pet insurance resources in patient notes to make the topic easily accessible.
- Linking to online pet insurance information in discharge instructions or post-visit communications.
- Asking, “What pet insurance do you have?” as part of the intake form helps highlight the topic’s importance.
- Referring clients to educational resources that can help them compare plans.
By following those best practices, veterinary professionals can comply with AVMA guidelines, stay within legal and ethical boundaries, and help clients make informed decisions about pet insurance. This framework makes boosting enrollment rates within your practice easier and doesn’t require your team to learn the ins and outs of any one policy in particular. As a result, you can focus on delivering the best possible care to the largest number of pets and with the least amount of stress.
AVMA POLICY
The AVMA endorses the concept of pet health insurance that provides coverage to help defray the cost of veterinary medical care and encourages veterinary health care teams to proactively educate their clients about the existence of such resources. The AVMA recognizes that viable pet health insurance programs may be an important approach for the veterinary profession to continue to provide high-quality veterinary services. Pet health insurance policies should:
- Require a veterinarian-client-patient relationship.
- Allow policyholders to choose their own veterinarians, including specialists and emergency and critical care facilities.
- Never interfere with the veterinarian’s fee structures.
- Be approved by the state insurance regulatory agency where the policy is sold.
- Be consistent with the Principles of Veterinary Medical Ethics and the pet health insurance industry ethical standards.
- Use licensed veterinarians to assist in claims adjudication.
- Be clear about policy limits, pricing structures and optional coverage (e.g., coverage for annual wellness visits) that might be available to policyholders.
- Be transparent about how the terms and conditions of plans will impact coverage and costs, including the financial obligations of policyholders, such as co-pays, deductibles and exclusions.
- Communicate clearly about the fee reimbursement process (i.e., how reimbursements are determined and how quickly reimbursements are provided to policyholders).
GROWTH SPURT
According to the North American Pet Health Insurance Association, nearly 4.85 million U.S. pets were insured in 2022, a 22.1% increase from the prior year.