Does Pet Insurance Cover Heartworm Prevention?

Heartworms could cause damage to your pet’s internal organs, and treatment can be long and costly. Fortunately, heartworm prevention medication is a great way to help keep your pet from experiencing an infection.

MetLife Pet can typically provide coverage for heartworm prevention through our optional Preventive Care plan. Learn more about how it’s covered and the other types of parasite prevention that can be covered. 

MetLife Pet Offers Coverage for Heartworm Prevention Costs

You can typically be reimbursed for some of the cost of heartworm prevention through our optional Preventive Care plan add-on.¹ Based on your vet’s recommendation, what’s available, and your budget, your pet may be given heartworm prevention on its own or bundled into one product with other parasite prevention — like fleas and ticks.

A 6-month supply of combined parasite prevention could cost around $150 – $210.² If you’re looking for just heartworm prevention alone, a 6-month supply may cost about $36 – $108.³

A wellness plan can help reduce these costs. Depending on the MetLife Pet plan you choose, you could be reimbursed according to your reimbursement rate (up to your plan’s annual limit), or based on the benefit limit listed in your plan for parasite prevention costs.^1,4

Does pet insurance cover heartworm medication?

If your pet already has a heartworm infection, there are other types of heartworm medications that can treat the disease. They’re often different from heartworm preventive meds because those can’t treat adult heartworms.³ However, some medication — like ivermectin — could be used to both treat and prevent heartworms if your vet approves.

If your pet needs treatment for heartworms, our standard insurance policy can typically help you cover the costs of expenses like heartworm meds, vet exams, and surgery if necessary.

What Types of Parasite Prevention Can Be Covered?

There are many parasites your pet may encounter throughout their life. The good news is, there’s a lot of preventive medication out there that can help. Through our Preventive Care plan add-on, you might be able to get coverage for:

• Heartworm prevention
• Flea prevention
• Tick/Lyme prevention
• Intestinal worm prevention
• Mite infestation prevention

While it may seem common for dogs to be on heartworm and other parasite prevention, cats can benefit from it, too. Although they aren’t as susceptible to heartworm infections as dogs, cats aren’t exempt from the disease. And currently, there’s no approved heartworm treatments for cats.³ For this reason alone, it can be a good idea to also ask your vet about parasite prevention for your felines.

What’s the Benefit of Having Heartworm Prevention Coverage?

If you have coverage for heartworm prevention through our optional Preventive Care plan, it could be more financially manageable to put, and keep, your pets on preventive meds.

A heartworm infection can cause serious damage to vital organs and life-threatening complications. Plus, treatment may cost $600 – $6,000 or more.³ Parasite prevention — which usually costs much less — can help protect your dog or cat from illness.

And with coverage for heartworm diagnostics and treatment through our standard accident and illness policy, those large costs could be more financially accessible as well.

MetLife Pet members who saved on heartworm prevention costs

To help you see the benefit of having Preventive Care coverage, take a look at some of these MetLife Pet policyholders who were reimbursed:^1,5

• Dog Tinkerbell’s family was reimbursed over $300 for her nearly $350 heartworm prevention meds.
• Heather, a cat from Ohio, got her heartworm prevention that costs over $200 reimbursed for around $175.
• The owners of a dog named Rosa were reimbursed over $150 for her nearly $175 heartworm prevention meds.

While costs vary, having coverage for parasite preventive meds could be worth it if it means being able to help spare your kitty or pup the discomfort of parasitic infections.

Get Heartworm, Flea, and Tick Prevention Coverage With MetLife Pet

Routine and preventive care is an important part of keeping your pet healthy. With MetLife Pet’s Preventive Care plan add-on, you can get coverage for heartworm, flea, tick, and other parasite prevention, as well as vaccinations, dental cleaning, and more.

Enroll your pet today, starting with a free quote, and get coverage for routine and preventive care tomorrow with our convenient 0-day waiting period.⁶