What about pet health insurance?

There was a very lively discussion on the Scoop's facebook fan page yesterday in about the cost of veterinary care. There were several struggling to cover their vet bills, and a veterinarian who helped offer some perspective on what can seem like high costs. Another commenter mentioned pet health insurance as an affordable solution. All sound like valid perspectives that echo what humans are debating these days.

This reminded me a segment I heard on This American Life's broadcast last weekend about what pet health insurance can teach us about our own health insurance system. While the central pet in the segment is Harriet the hedgehog, the discussion is definitely relevant to dog lovers faced with the costs of caring for their sick pup. Like human health insurance though, you have to sign up before you get sick, or else your problem is considered a "pre-existing condition" and is not covered.

You can listen to the whole episode of This American Life, or just listen to or read the pet insurance segment that aired on Morning Edition. What has your experience been with pet health insurance? Join the discussion on my Facebook fan page--It would be great to hear from owners and vets alike.

On a sidenote, in the story they tell us that they vacuum dogs after they are knocked out and before they go into surgery. VACUUM!! That's just not right. If I accidentally woke up, that might just give me a heart attack. In fact, I am about to have a heart attack just thinking about it.