To understand why some veterinarians are reluctant to get on the pet insurance bandwagon, you have to look no further than the human medical insurance - healthcare model. The two biggest concerns that they have are:
1) Managed Care?/p>
Perhaps you don't know exactly what managed care is, but you are probably familiar with terms like PPO, HMO, Medicare, Medicaid, in-network, out-of-network, etc. These are all "buzzwords" for managed care. What are some characteristics of managed care?
- Healthcare providers (doctors, dentists, pharmacies, hospitals, etc.) join a network that sets fees for which the providers will be reimbursed in exchange for patients who are part of the network.
- Limits the patient's choice of doctors, dentists, hospitals and pharmacies to those who are in the network. If they decide to go to a provider "out-of-network," they are penalized by having to pay a higher portion of the bill.
- Sometimes the decisions on appropriate diagnostic tests and treatment are take away from the doctor actually seeing the patient and made by an employee of the network in another city. This can be detrimental to quality healthcare.
Doctors and hospitals generally have a whole department dedicated to filing insurance claims, dealing with insurance company requests, and billing. Veterinarians know that the more time their staffs have to devote to insurance claims, payments, etc., the higher the cost of veterinary services will rise because their overhead expenses will be higher. This will adversely affect pet owners. Fortunately, so far, pet insurance companies have kept the paperwork to a minimum. Your veterinarian may have fill out and sign a claim form for you, but this should only take a couple of minutes. The more pet insurance companies can do to automate the process (limit the time and paperwork involved), the more receptive veterinarians will become to pet insurance. Some companies are already working on ways to automate the claims process as well as submission of medical records when required.?/p>
So, what veterinarians would like to remain true about pet insurance are the same things that also benefit pet owners:
- The ability for the client and treating doctor to determine the level of care - no third party dictating the quality of care (overruling the treatment decisions of the treating doctor by disallowing or limiting benefits).
- Little or no paperwork in filing claims.
- No schedule of fees or benefits dictating or implying what to charge. Individual practices must have the freedom to set fees that suit the style and level of care that they provide for their clients and patients.
- Clients to be able to choose where to take their pet for care, including specialists.