Pet Insurance vs. Veterinary Discount Plans

With the ever-rising cost of living, saving where you can may be part of your financial strategy. For vet bills, there are different ways you can save money — two of them are pet insurance and veterinary discount plans. Let's compare these cost-saving strategies so you can decide which is right for you.

Pet Insurance and How It Works

Pet insurance is a type of insurance policy that you can enroll your pets in to help you manage veterinary expenses. Generally, you pay the vet bill upfront and file a claim for reimbursement on covered costs.

Here’s a simplified version of how pet insurance works:

1. Select the policy that works for you, your family, and your pet, and keep paying your premium.
2. When your pet needs medical care, take them to the veterinarian or animal hospital.
3. After they’ve received care, pay the vet bill.
4. Submit a claim to your pet insurance provider, and get reimbursed for expenses covered by your specific policy.

With insurance, you may have a deductible to reach before your provider begins reimbursing claims. You may also find that insurance policies have exclusions and limitations to what can be reimbursed — like pre-existing conditions, annual limits, or per-incident limits.

Veterinary Discount Plans and How They Work

Veterinary discount plans are membership programs that provide pet parents with discounts on certain procedures and services at participating veterinary clinics.¹

Programs typically operate with “networks” of providers. Vets can drop out of the plan or offering at any time, and you’re only able to use the discounts at participating veterinary providers.¹

To get your discount, enroll in the program and keep paying your premium. When you go to a participating provider for your pet’s care, you can show them your membership ID card to receive an immediate discount on your vet bill.¹

How Is Pet Insurance Different From Vet Discount Plans?

To help you see which option might be the right fit for you, let’s look at the main differences between pet insurance and veterinary discount plans.¹

Vet discount plans can help you manage vet bills by reducing the cost you owe upfront when you visit a provider that’s in-network. But these plans may only apply to in-house services. So the cost of things like medication or products you take home from the vet, blood work or diagnostics sent out of the office, or care outsourced to a veterinary specialist are typically excluded from the discount. Essentially, you can only get a discount when the participating vet performs the service.¹

Conversely, pet insurance can help you manage vet expenses by reimbursing you for covered treatments after the vet bill has been paid. Your plan benefits can also be used at virtually any licensed vet, as well as for medications your pet may be prescribed or vet specialists your pet is referred to.

When Might a Vet Discount Plan Be Beneficial?

Vet discount plans can be helpful when you want to reduce up-front costs or when your pet is generally healthy and only visits the vet for in-house care. Let’s discuss when you might choose a veterinary discount plan.

When you want to reduce upfront costs

Participating veterinary clinics will apply a discount to your vet bill before you pay it. If you want to reduce the amount of money you pay upfront and know the services are covered, this is when a vet discount plan can be helpful.

For more standard vet care needs

Many of the services and procedures that veterinary discount plans can cover are for more standard care needs — whether they’re expected or unexpected — such as vet visits, dental care, in-house diagnostics, surgeries, hospitalizations, and emergency care.¹

These plans can help you save money when your pet is generally healthy and may only visit the vet for minor sick care or emergency care that doesn’t require specialists or lots of take-home medications.

If your pet has pre-existing conditions

Pre-existing conditions aren’t typically included in pet insurance coverage — any related vet expenses won’t be reimbursed. Having a vet discount plan can be helpful in these situations if your pet needs regular vet care to help manage their pre-existing condition and the services are discounted under the plan.

If you also have pet insurance

Having a pet insurance plan and going to a vet that’s in-network with a vet discount plan can be even more financially helpful than just one or the other. You can get a discount on the vet bill, then save even more money by submitting a claim for it and getting reimbursed for covered costs.

Benefits of Choosing MetLife Pet Insurance

If you’re still unsure which savings option to choose, here are a few ways that enrolling in a MetLife Pet policy could be more beneficial than enrolling in a vet discount plan:

• More savings: You could save up to 90% on costs with MetLife Pet plans versus up to 25% for discount plans.^1,2,3
• More comprehensive coverage: You could have qualifying pet medications, specialist services, and boarding (if you’re hospitalized) covered — things you likely won’t get with a vet discount plan.¹
• Use it anywhere: You don’t need to go to a specific vet to save money. See any licensed vet in the country, and then submit your claim for reimbursement.
• No ID card required at the vet: If you lose your membership ID card or forget to show it at checkout, most vets won’t apply the discount even if they participate. With MetLife Pet, you don’t have to worry about losing ID cards to get your reimbursement.

While vet discount plans don’t have waiting periods, one benefit of MetLife Pet policies compared to other pet insurance providers is our 0-day waiting period on accidents and Preventive Care benefits. This is one of the shortest waiting periods on the market.⁴ And we also have the only Family Plan available — so you can enroll up to three cats or dogs on a single policy with a shared deductible.^4,5

Real-life savings with pet insurance

To help you see how much a MetLife Pet Insurance policy could save you on unexpected expenses, let’s take a look at some customer stories:⁶

• James, a puppy from Connecticut, joined his family for their outdoor cookout and snuck a corn cob from the back table. A large piece got stuck in his intestines. After surgery to remove it, the vet bill was over $8,900. With their MetLife Pet policy, James’ family was reimbursed more than $8,000 — a much higher percentage of savings compared to using a vet discount plan.
• Tito, a young cat from California, was hospitalized due to bladder stones that were obstructing his urinary tract. His vet bill totaled around $6,000, and his pet parents were reimbursed for nearly $5,400 thanks to their MetLife Pet policy — a huge relief that wouldn’t have been possible with a vet discount plan.
• Scooter, a senior dog from New Jersey, was really sick and brought to the vet. After stabilizing him, running many diagnostic tests, and conducting a thorough physical exam, he was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. The vet bill totaled more than $10,300, but his pet parent’s MetLife Pet policy reimbursed them over $9,300 — life-saving care that might not have been financially accessible if they only had a vet discount plan.

Pet Insurance Could Help You Save More Than Discount Plans

While vet discount plans can provide immediate savings, they’re typically much lower than what pet insurance can offer. Plus, you’re limited to coverage for in-house services at participating vets. With emergency vet visits that could get really expensive, having the most savings possible can mean the difference between getting the care your pet needs and not.

MetLife Pet’s Preventive Care plan add-on can also provide coverage for routine and wellness expenses you’re already paying for — like teeth cleanings, flea and tick prevention, and vaccinations. Consider enrolling in our award-winning⁷ pet insurance that you can use at any licensed vet in the country. Get your free quote today.