5 Best Pet Wellness Plans (2024 Guide)
Many pet insurance providers offer a wellness plan to cover preventive care, such as wellness visits, vaccinations, and spaying and neutering. You’ll have to pay an additional fee to add wellness coverage to your standard accident-and-illness plan since routine care isn’t covered in standard policies. Many pet owners find the add-on worth it to cover common pet health needs or frequent treatments, such as grooming.
We recently reviewed the top pet insurance companies nationwide and found that the following providers offer the best pet wellness plans.
Is a Pet Wellness Plan Worth It?
What Companies Offer the Best Pet Wellness Plans?
Here are our top providers of pet wellness plans based on our in-depth review:
How Do the Top Pet Wellness Plans Compare?
Compare the top pet wellness plan offerings at a glance and read below for more details.
Company | Star Rating | Cost Range | Visit Site |
---|---|---|---|
$15–$45 | VISIT SITE | ||
$9.95–$24.95 | VISIT SITE | ||
See Wellness program details | VISIT SITE | ||
$9.50–$16.50 | VISIT SITE | ||
$14–$33 | VISIT SITE |
How Much Do Pet Wellness Plans Cost?
Pet wellness plans generally cost $10–$30, though some top-tier plans offer more coverage or higher annual caps and are considerably more expensive. These plans can be as high as $60 per month.
It’s important to remember that wellness plans are an additional monthly fee on top of your base plan, which also varies in price depending on your location, customizations, and pet’s age and breed. Here are some sample premium costs for top pet insurance providers:
Provider | Monthly Avg for Puppies (6 weeks to 1 year)* | Monthly Avg for Adult Dogs (1 year to 10 years)* | Monthly Avg for Senior Dogs (10+ years)* |
---|---|---|---|
Embrace |
$36.02 |
$36.74 |
$91.85 |
Lemonade |
$19.67 |
$21.83 |
N/A |
Spot |
$32.02 |
$33.43 |
$128.32 |
*Based on sample quotes for a mixed-breed male dog in Cincinnati (ages 8 months, 4 years, and 12 years)
Provider | Monthly Avg for Kittens (0 weeks to 1 year)* | Monthly Avg for Adult Cats (1 year to 7 years)* | Monthly Avg for Senior Cats (7+ years)* |
---|---|---|---|
Embrace |
$16.15 |
$21.60 |
$36.74 |
Lemonade |
$13.17 |
$13.17 |
$31.33 |
Spot |
$17.35 |
$19.49 |
$62.28 |
*Based on sample quotes for a mixed male cat in Cincinnati (8 months, 4 years, and 10 years)
Learn more about average pet insurance costs in our guide.
What Factors Should You Consider Before Getting a Pet Wellness Plan?
Keep these factors in mind before buying a pet wellness plan:
Prices vary among providers and plan tiers. Do the math to see if a wellness plan will actually help you save money on the preventive care your pet needs. If a wellness plan seems worth it, choose a provider that fits within your budget to ensure you ease your financial burden instead of increase it.
Not all wellness plans cover the same treatments. Embrace, for example, covers far more in its plan than most other providers. Read the fine print to make sure you’ll get coverage for the care you want for your pet and won’t be blocked by exclusions.
If a plan has an annual limit, calculate whether it’s high enough to be worth it versus paying out of pocket. For example, if you know you just want grooming, dental cleanings, and parasite prevention treatments, and it costs $400 for the year, you may not find it helpful to pay monthly for a wellness plan that costs you more than that to have. Also, you should check to see if a plan has per-item limits or just an annual limit.
What’s the Difference Between Pet Insurance and a Pet Wellness Plan?
A pet wellness plan is different from standard pet insurance. A standard pet insurance plan covers unexpected vet costs related to accidents and injuries. This includes treatments and special care for broken bones, lacerations, illnesses, infections, skeletal issues, and more. Accident-and-illness plans typically range from $25–$55 per month, though some can be higher. Your monthly premium will vary depending on the deductible, annual limit, and reimbursement rate you choose.
Pet wellness plans are separate from this standard coverage. Not all providers offer wellness coverage since it’s intended for routine preventive vet care that you can plan and budget for. However, having a wellness plan is beneficial because you’ll be reimbursed for the routine vet care your pet needs to stay healthy and catch issues early.
What Is a Pet Wellness Plan?
A pet wellness plan can be combined with your standard pet insurance plan to cover your pet’s routine care. Pet parents with puppies and kittens may find having a wellness plan especially helpful since it’s geared toward vaccinations, prevention treatments, wellness exams, and much of the veterinary care young pets need to avoid health issues as they get older.
How Do Pet Wellness Plans Work?
Pet wellness plans work similarly to standard accident-and-illness plans. With most plans, you’ll pay for the treatment out of pocket at the vet, then file a claim with your insurer to be reimbursed.
Some pet insurance companies handle their wellness programs a little differently. For example, some providers give subscribers a card to use at the vet that’s preloaded with their coverage amount. Others allow direct pay, meaning you can scan your membership card at the vet, and the insurance company will handle the claim with the vet directly.
What Do Pet Wellness Plans Cover?
Wellness coverage varies slightly across companies, but most wellness plans cover the following:
- Blood work and other diagnostic testing
- Dental cleanings
- Deworming
- Flea, tick, and heartworm prevention
- Grooming
- Microchipping
- Routine wellness exams
- Spaying and neutering
- Urinalysis
- Vaccinations
Plans typically state how many treatments of a certain kind they’ll cover during a policy year and/or a maximum annual coverage amount.
What Don’t Pet Wellness Plans Cover?
Since pet wellness plans are only geared toward preventive routine care, they don’t cover anything related to accidents or illnesses. You’ll need an accident-and-illness or accident-only plan to get any reimbursement for those health needs. And, like with all plans, you’re not covered for anything related to preexisting conditions.
You’re also not covered for experimental treatments or anything that’s not veterinary, such as waste disposal services or dog walking.
Our Conclusion
Routine vet visits and wellness treatments can go a long way to detect and address health problems before they become severe. Many pet insurance providers offer wellness plans to keep pets healthy and well while helping their parents save money on routine costs.
All providers on this list have benefits, but we especially recommend Lemonade, Pets Best, and Embrace for their coverage, pricing models, and strong industry reputations. We suggest carefully reviewing each company’s policy details, reading customer reviews, and getting quotes from multiple providers to compare pricing before enrolling in a plan.
FAQs About Pet Insurance Wellness Coverage
What is considered a wellness visit for a dog?
A wellness visit for a dog is an annual physical or checkup. These exams are preventive measures to evaluate a dog’s development, bones, blood work, major organs, coat, and other health indicators. These are for healthy dogs and are administered routinely, as opposed to vet visits focused on treating a specific injury or illness.
How often should my dog get a wellness check?
Most vets recommend monthly visits for puppies until they’re fully vaccinated. Adult dogs need wellness checkups once a year, and senior dogs should go every six months.
Is it good to have pet insurance?
It’s good to have pet insurance to cover your pet’s unexpected medical costs. Some accidents or illnesses require urgent treatment that could cost several thousands of dollars. In those cases, it’s valuable to have a pet insurance plan that will reimburse you for the majority of the expenses.
Our Rating Methodology
The This Old House Reviews Team is dedicated to thorough, in-depth reviews of each product or service that we detail in our content. Determined to build trust with our readers through transparency, accuracy, and accountability, we’ve built a detailed rating system to score pet insurance brands. Included in this methodology are the following six factors with their respective scoring weights:
- Coverage (25)
- Plan options (20)
- Monthly cost (20)
- Company reputation (15)
- Customer service (10)
- Species eligibility (10)
Our researchers keep all data in each company’s score up to date, making any changes to our content when necessary to provide our readers with the most accurate information on relevant metrics, such as plan options, customer service, reputation, and monthly cost.
To share feedback or ask a question about this article, send a note to our Reviews team at reviews@thisoldhousereviews.com.