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 owners enroll their pets in to get reimbursed for covered pet health expenses. 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

Discount plans are programs where one or more veterinarians agree to offer certain discounts for veterinary procedures and services under a third-party organization. This means 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?

While both pet insurance and vet discount plans offer savings on applicable vet expenses and have a monthly premium in exchange for coverage, that’s about the end of their similarities. Let’s look at the main differences between pet insurance and veterinary discount plans.¹

One note of distinction: You may find that vet discount plans only cover in-house services. This means 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 be used virtually anywhere.

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 around 20% – 25% for discount plans.^2,3,4
• More comprehensive coverage: Have qualifying pet medications, specialist services, and boarding (if you’re hospitalized) covered — things you won’t get with a vet discount plan.
• 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 we have a 0-day waiting period on accidents and Preventive Care.⁵ This is one of the shortest waiting periods on the market.⁶ And we also have the only family plan available — so you can enroll up to three pets on a single policy with a shared deductible.^6,7

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.

James, a puppy from Connecticut, decided he wanted to join his family for their outdoor cookout. When everyone was busy eating, he snuck a corn cob from the back table and swallowed a large piece that got stuck in his intestines. After surgery to remove it, the vet bill was over $8,900. With their MetLife Pet policy, they were reimbursed more than $8,000 — a much higher percentage of savings compared to using a vet discount plan.⁸

Tito, a young cat from Arizona, had some bladder stones that started to obstruct his urinary tract. After diagnostics and surgery to remove them, his vet bill totaled nearly $7,000. His pet parents were reimbursed for the entire vet bill thanks to their MetLife Pet policy — a huge relief that wouldn’t have been possible with a vet discount plan.⁹

Scooter, a senior dog from New Jersey, started getting really sick. 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 affordable if they only had a vet discount plan.¹⁰

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 can cost up to $5,000 or more, having the most savings possible can mean the difference between getting the care your pet needs or not.

Consider enrolling in an award-winning¹¹ pet insurance policy with MetLife Pet that you can use at any licensed vet in the country. Our dog insurance and cat insurance policies can provide the coverage and care your furry family members deserve while protecting your finances from large, unexpected expenses. And our Preventive Care plan add-on can help provide coverage for routine and wellness expenses you’re already paying for — like teeth cleanings, flea and tick prevention, and vaccinations. Ready to enroll? Get your free quote today in just a few minutes.