Pet health insurance is mostly for emergency, non-routine procedures related to accidents or illnesses. Although it’s important for Fido to look their finest, grooming isn’t typically included in a coverage plan because it’s a routine, cosmetic procedure. Embrace with Wellness Rewards is one of the only pet insurance plans that will help you pay for several non-standard services—grooming included.
Why Is Grooming Not Typically Covered?
To keep the price down for you and others, pet insurance is mostly meant to help cover costly emergencies. Although grooming may be a necessary expense, it’s a standard, non-emergency service that you can usually plan and budget for ahead of time. The perks of pet insurance are that it helps you pay for the things you didn’t know would happen, like if your puppy eats a pack of crayons.
The best way to learn what is covered by pet insurance is to compare policies from a few different companies and find the one that best fits your needs.
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In addition to grooming not being an emergency procedure, it’s also a cosmetic-related service which is usually not covered. Tail docking and ear clipping are other examples of cosmetic procedures that your insurance usually won’t pay for.
Embrace With Wellness: Helping Your Pet Look Their Best
Embrace stands out from the pack by offering a Wellness Rewards add-on to their standard policies that will partially reimburse you for pet grooming. Wellness Rewards isn’t a policy in itself; rather, it’s like an annual savings account for your pet that you pay for monthly in addition to your basic policy. Embrace offers two policies: Accident-only and Accident & Illness. Both plans qualify for a Wellness Reward add-on, which is available in three tiers.
Wait, if you’ve got to pay an extra fee for the Wellness Rewards Program, you may be asking if it’s worth it? The average dog haircut only costs around $60, which is a lot but not as much as other things your dog requires. That’s up to you. The Wellness Rewards Program has a $250, $450, or $650 wellness allowance each year. You can use that money in combination with other expenses such as wellness exams, flea preventatives, and heartworm surgery. Since some of these other things can cost more than grooming, it may be worthwhile to get reimbursed for the other procedures instead. It depends on how often your dog gets their fur cut and what other expenses you think they might accumulate through the year.
Summary
Embrace with Wellness is one of the only pet insurance plans that covers grooming. Haircuts and baths are considered standard, cosmetic procedures that pet insurance companies typically won’t cover since they focus on accidents and illnesses. It might be worth it to use your Wellness Rewards reimbursement on grooming if you don’t anticipate many other expenses, but since they cover a host of more expensive problems it might be best to save your allowance. If you don’t want to switch to Embrace, you can always budget for grooming ahead of time.
Featured Image Credit: Dmytro Zinkevych, Shutterstock
