When you get a new pup or kitten, spaying or neutering them is likely at the top of your vet’s to-do list. It’s a safe procedure that helps reduce health risks and control animal overpopulation. But in some areas, fixing your pet can cost as much as $500, leaving many pet parents wondering: will insurance cover it?
Pet insurance companies offer preventive care riders that reimburse you for spaying or neutering your pet. The best pet wellness plans typically cover up to $200 for this procedure.
Pet wellness plan coverage
Wellness plans, sometimes called preventative care plans or riders, help pay for services and procedures that pet insurance doesn’t cover, such as a full-body checkup, vaccinations, dental cleanings, routine bloodwork, parasite prevention, and deworming.
What pet wellness plans won’t cover
Pet wellness plans won’t cover grooming services such as baths, hair trims, nail clipping and other elective procedures like anal gland expressions, tail docking or declawing. A handful of plans may cover microchipping, behavioral exams and health certificates but most don’t.
What pet insurance covers spay and neuter surgery?
Lemonade, ASPCA, Wagmo, Many Pets, Prudent Pet, AKC, Pets Best, Embrace, Nationwide and Spot pet insurance sell wellness plans that pay toward spay or neuter procedures.
When you’re shopping for pet insurance, you’ll find that some companies split wellness plans into tiers: low, medium and high coverage. A low-tier wellness plan typically won’t cover spaying and neutering. Medium-tier plans may reimburse you around $150, while the highest coverage option generally reimburses up to $200.
How far that dollar amount will stretch depends on where you live. For instance, neutering a pup in California can set you back over $500. The insurer will reimburse $200, and the remaining $300 comes out of your own pocket. However, $200 may fully cover the procedure at a low-cost clinic or in states where vet care is more affordable.
Once you’ve paid for the procedure, you can file a claim and get reimbursed up to the limit set by your provider. You don’t pay a deductible, but you’re responsible for the difference if the vet bill exceeds the coverage limit.
An important detail to note about wellness coverage is that the limits for spay and neuter procedures are often shared with dental benefits. This means that — in a policy year — you can either file for reimbursement for a dental cleaning or for a spay/neuter surgery.
Here’s how much you’d pay with different companies for pet insurance with and without wellness (preventive care) coverage.
Company | Cost of pet insurance without a wellness rider | Cost of pet insurance with a wellness rider |
|---|---|---|
$26-$50 | $45-$70 | |
$35-$49 | $45-$65 | |
$36-$65 | $52-$69 | |
$35-$59 | $45-$69 | |
$30-$49 | $41-$60 | |
$44-$77 | $58-$99 | |
$33-$58 | $58-$83 |
Source: Pawlicy
What is the difference between a wellness plan and pet insurance?
Wellness plan | Pet insurance |
|---|---|
Reimburses you for your pet’s routine care expenses | Reimburses you the cost to treat an injury or illness |
Reimburses a fixed dollar amount | Reimburses a percentage of the bill (70%, 80% or 90%) |
No deductibles, waiting periods or exclusions for pre-existing conditions | Waiting periods range from 2 to 14 days |
If you’re interested in comprehensive pet insurance, check out our guide on how to buy pet insurance to get the right coverage.
Is it worth buying a pet health insurance policy to pay for spaying or neutering?
If you’re only looking into pet insurance to get spay or neuter coverage, remember that these procedures are one-time costs. You probably don’t need an insurance policy with a wellness rider if you can pay for the surgery out-of-pocket and aren’t interested in pet insurance.
According to the North American Pet Insurance Association (NAPHIA), an accident and illness policy with a wellness rider costs a little over $50 a month for cats. For dogs it averages around $100 a month. On average, you’d be spending over $600 to $1,000 a year in pet insurance premiums, much more than the cost of fixing your pet at a low-cost clinic such as The Humane Society.
However, beyond spaying or neutering, a wellness plan covers other routine care services that can easily average $700 to $1,500 a year. With that in mind, a pet insurance policy with preventive care could be a good deal, especially if your pet gets unexpectedly ill or injured.
Can you buy a standalone wellness plan?
Pet owners can purchase a standalone wellness plan if they prefer not to pay for accident and illness coverage. However, the choices for standalone plans are significantly more limited.
Banfield Pet Hospital and Petco offer wellness programs to their customers, while Wagmo Pet Insurance is the only insurer we evaluated that offers an individual wellness plan (as opposed to a preventive care add-on).
It’s also worth looking into in-house wellness plans from local veterinary clinics or hospitals. These plans allow you to spread your payments over 12 months instead of paying upfront for each service. You also avoid the extra step of having to file an insurance claim and wait for reimbursement. The services are already paid for; you just bring your dog or cat in to get the care they need.
Summary of Money’s Does Pet Insurance Cover Spay and Neuter?
Standard pet insurance coverage only pays toward unexpected costs related to accidents and illnesses. Adding a pet wellness riders can help you pay the cost of spaying or neutering your pet, along with other routine care expenses excluded from pet insurance.
These plans can be a useful tool in managing your pet’s healthcare needs and keeping those expenses within your budget. But it may not always be cheaper than just paying out-of-pocket so, before adding a wellness plan to your pet insurance policy, compare the cost of coverage against the benefits it offers. Whether pet insurance is worth it will ultimately depend on your finances and the care your pet requires over its lifetime.
According to a report from Money.com, when you bring home a new puppy or kitten, one of the first things your veterinarian will likely recommend is spaying or neutering. This safe procedure not only helps reduce health risks for your pet, but also helps control animal overpopulation. However, in some areas, the cost of this procedure can be as high as $500, leaving many pet owners wondering if their insurance will cover it.
Fortunately, many pet insurance companies offer preventive care riders that can reimburse you for the cost of spaying or neutering your pet. The best pet wellness plans typically cover up to $200 for this procedure. These wellness plans, also known as preventative care plans or riders, help cover services and procedures that are not typically covered by pet insurance, such as full-body checkups, vaccinations, dental cleanings, routine bloodwork, parasite prevention, and deworming.
However, it’s important to note that pet wellness plans do not cover grooming services like baths, hair trims, or nail clipping, and they also do not cover elective procedures such as anal gland expressions, tail docking, or declawing. Some plans may cover microchipping, behavioral exams, and health certificates, but most do not.
If you are specifically looking for pet insurance that covers spay and neuter surgery, there are several companies that offer this coverage, including Lemonade, ASPCA, Wagmo, Many Pets, Prudent Pet, AKC, Pets Best, Embrace, Nationwide, and Spot pet insurance. When comparing plans, you may notice that some companies offer different levels of wellness coverage, such as low, medium, and high coverage. Typically, low-tier plans do not cover spaying and neutering, while medium-tier plans may reimburse around $150 and high-tier plans may reimburse up to $200.
However, the amount of coverage you receive may vary depending on where you live. For example, the cost of neutering a puppy in California can be over $500, but if your insurance only covers up to $200, you will be responsible for the remaining $300. On the other hand, in states where vet care is more affordable, $200 may fully cover the procedure or come close to it. It’s important to keep in mind that the coverage limit for spay and neuter procedures is often shared with dental benefits, meaning you can only file for reimbursement for one of these procedures in a policy year.
To give you an idea of how much you might pay for pet insurance with and without wellness coverage, here are some examples from different companies:
– Embrace: $26-$50 without wellness coverage, $45-$70 with wellness coverage
– Pets Best: $35-$49 without wellness coverage, $45-$65 with wellness coverage
– Prudent Pet: $36-$65 without wellness coverage, $52-$69 with wellness coverage
– Pumpkin: $44-$77 without wellness coverage, $58-$99 with wellness coverage
– Spot: $33-$58 without wellness coverage, $58-$83 with wellness coverage
It’s important to understand the difference between a wellness plan and pet insurance. A wellness plan will reimburse you for routine care expenses, while pet insurance will cover the cost of treating an injury or illness. Wellness plans typically offer a fixed dollar amount of coverage, while pet insurance typically covers a percentage of the bill (usually 70%, 80%, or 90%). Additionally, wellness plans do not have deductibles or waiting periods, while pet insurance may have both.
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