Pet care can be extremely expensive, which is why having pet insurance can be so beneficial. While covering routine care costs is fairly manageable, many pet owners struggle to pay their veterinary bills if their pet becomes ill or is injured.
When you have pet insurance, you can make sure that you can afford to give your pet the care that it needs.
While there are a number of companies that offer pet insurance, there are several companies that are especially popular. Both Healthy Paws and Embrace are well-known insurance companies that provide coverage to cat and dog owners.
If you’re interested in both of these insurance companies, and you’re trying to decide which one you should work with, here’s how they stack up.
Coverage Comparison
Healthy Paws
Healthy Paws covers a wide range of services, including surgeries, hospitalization, prescription medication, accidents, and illnesses. They also cover alternative treatments, like chiropractic care and homeopathy [1].
They do not provide coverage for pre-existing conditions, preventative care, behavioral modification, or veterinary exam fees.
While Healthy Paws does cover hip dysplasia, they do not provide this coverage to dogs that are enrolled in the program after the age of six.
Embrace
Embrace Pet Insurance provides strong coverage, including coverage for hospitalization, prescription drugs, accidents, and illnesses. However, they have a greater number of exemptions on the type of coverage they provide [2].
In addition to not covering pre-existing conditions, they do not cover any injuries that were deliberately caused by someone living in your household.
They also do not provide coverage for illnesses or injuries caused by neglect. Embrace does provide coverage for hip dysplasia, but they have a six-month waiting period for coverage.
Who Has Better Coverage?
Healthy Paws and Embrace both offer excellent coverage.
However, Embrace’s restrictions may increase the likelihood of denied claims. Negative reviews online claim that Embrace consistently denied claims for various reasons, even when their pet was covered from puppyhood onward.
Because of this, Healthy Paws appears to provide more reliable pet coverage.
Deductible and Monthly Costs
Healthy Paws
Healthy Paws offer a variety of deductible options that vary based on the type of pet that is being insured and the age of the pet. For example, $100, $250, and $500 deductible amounts are available to dogs and cats that are under the age of five.
Cats that are six or older and dogs that are six or seven years old can choose between a $250, $500 or $750 deductible, and dogs over seven will have a $750 deductible. The reimbursement amount will also vary based on the age of the pet.
Healthy Paws offers complete coverage at a fairly affordable price.
Premiums for their plans begin at as little as $13 a month. The total monthly costs for coverage will vary based on a number of factors, such as the plan you choose, the type of pet that you’re insuring, and the age of your pet. Thankfully, Healthy Paws makes it easy to get insurance quotes online.
When customers initially enroll their pet or pets, they will be charged a one-time $25 enrollment fee.
However, once this fee is paid, customers won’t have to pay additional costs outside of their monthly premiums.
Embrace
Like Healthy Paws, Embrace offers a range of options to their customers. However, these options are generally restricted by price rather than age. They offer annual deductibles of $200, $300, $500, $750, or $1,000. Their annual maximum is $5,000, $8,000, $10,000, $15,000, or $30,000.
They do not offer a plan that provides unlimited coverage.
Embrace also offers fairly affordable coverage. Embrace has an optional Wellness rewards program for an additional fee that allows customers to be reimbursed for certain types of routine care. This program is not available in Rhode Island. While this will increase the total cost of their plans, it also offers more complete coverage.
Embrace does charge customers fees in addition to their monthly costs. When customers sign up, they will have to pay a $25 enrollment fee. They will also be charged a $1 transaction fee each month.
Which One is Cheaper?
Healthy Paws and Embrace are similar in cost. Both companies charge $25 enrollment fees, and both companies have similar rates. However, before you enroll in any plan, you’ll want to look closely at what you’re getting for your money.
The cheapest plans from Embrace have higher deductibles than the cheapest plans from Healthy Paws. Additionally, the $1 monthly transaction fee that Embrace charges can increase your total cost.
If you want to accurately compare costs, you’ll want to get quotes from both companies. You should look at what you’ll have to pay each month in order to get the level of coverage you’re looking for.
Healthy Paws doesn’t offer the Wellness Rewards program that Embrace provides.
This means that monthly costs are likely to be lower, but it also means that customers won’t be able to take advantage of the benefits this program provides.
Claims Comparison
Healthy Paws
Healthy Paws makes it easy for clients to submit claims. Claims can be submitted through the insurance company’s free app or through their online center. Customers have the option of being reimbursed through a hard copy check or direct deposit.
When submitted a claim, customers will have to provide a copy of a paid invoice in order for the claim to be approved. They will also have to authorize their veterinarian to send over their pet’s medical records.
Although claims must be filed within 90 days the date of service, claims are processed very quickly. 99% of all claims are processed in just two business days.
Embrace
Embrace has a deductible than copay model for reimbursement. Claim forms can be faxed, emailed, mailed in, or submitted online through your MyEmbrace portal via their app. When claims are approved, customers have the option of getting paid through direct deposit or a paper check.
Claims must be filed within 60 days of policy renewal. The majority of claims — 95% — are processed within 5 business days. 40% of claims are processed within 2 business days. Claims are paid within 24 hours of processing.
Who Has the Better Claims Process?
While both Healthy Paws and Embrace have fast claims processes, Healthy Paws has a slight edge. The majority of their claims are processed in two days, while the majority of Embrace’s claims are processed within 5 days. Both companies offer a range of options so that customers can choose how they submit claims and how they get paid.
Some customers may prefer the deductible than copay model that is used by Embrace. Depending on how frequently you use your service, this reimbursement model could wind up saving you money.
A number of online reviews report that Embrace regularly denied claims. Based on reviews, denials seem to be less common for Healthy Paws customers. If you want reliable coverage, Healthy Paws may be a better option for you.
Customer Ratings
Embrace
Embrace has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. However, they do have a number of customer complaints online. Some customers report that Embrace consistently denied the claims that they made.
There are also reviews that report lost checks, which means customers hoping to receive paper checks may run into problems.
With that said, there are plenty of positive reviews for Embrace as well. Customers have praised Embrace for being easy to work with and quickly handling their claims.
Healthy Paws
Healthy Paws has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau [3] and an average rating of 4.4 on Google (see how we rank them).
Still, there are some complaints about this company as well. Some reviews have claimed that they have run into issues when they try to provide pet medical records to the claim center so that their claims can be approved.
However, positive feedback seems to outnumber negative comments. Customers have said that they appreciate their strong customer service and that claims are processed very quickly.
Which One is Rated Better?
Both companies have excellent Better Business Bureau rankings, and both companies have both positive and negative feedback from their customers. Still, Healthy Paws appears to have a greater number of satisfied customers.
Their Google reviews are very positive and customers have given them a lot of praise.
Summary
It can be difficult to choose a pet insurance company. You’ll want to make sure that your monthly costs are affordable, but you’ll also want to make sure you have coverage when you need it. Both Healthy Paws and Embrace provide excellent coverage at a very reasonable price.
Still, when you compare the two companies against each other, there’s a clear winner: Healthy Paws. They have a high customer satisfaction rate, they offer unlimited lifetime coverage, and their app makes it incredibly easy to process a claim. They also have a very fast email response time.
If you’ve been struggling to find the right insurance provider for your pet, you’ll want to take a closer look at what Healthy Paws has to offer.
Request a quote for them, check out their policies, and decide if they’re the insurance company that you’d like to work with.
Resources
- Pet Insurance Coverage and Exclusions. Retrieved from https://www.healthypawspetinsurance.com/pet-insurance-coverage-and-exclusions
- Embrace Pet Insurance Plan Coverage Details. Retrieved from https://www.embracepetinsurance.com/coverage/pet-insurance-plan
- BBB Healthy Paws Rating. Retrieved at https://www.bbb.org/us/wa/bellevue/profile/pet-insurance/healthy-paws-pet-insurance-llc-1296-22528158/accreditation-information
