TLDR: Not really a problem given the price of the policy (1/4 the US price), just hope that some other foreigner can learn from my misunderstanding and not be caught off-guard.
Context: had dog insurance on another dog, same breed, in the US previously.
Just got my first dog in Japan, and with it got pet insurance (iPet). All the materials were in Japanese but I got the general picture; 50% and 70% coverage plans available, although the price was only about 25% the cost of insurance for the same breed in the US. Thought my vet messed up the first bill by not submitting it to iPet (vet is ‘in-network’, in US insurance terms) as there were no discounts listed, and went back to get help filling out the claim form. They informed me that everything in the first routine vet visit after getting the puppy (heartworm medicine, check-up, 3-in-1 vaccine dose, etc – the usual) is ‘予防’ and not covered by insurance.
US insurance often prioritizes subsidizing so-called ‘preventative measures’ as they can reduce later claims to the insurance company at a tiny fraction of the cost of a potentially much more expensive future procedure. Was sure there was a mistake because coming from my culture, it’s completely obvious that insurance would cover a healthy portion of the preventative care costs with significant coverage payouts.
3 comments
Just for my curiosity, how much did the first vet visit costs you?
>US insurance often prioritizes subsidizing so-called ‘preventative measures’ as they can reduce later claims to the insurance company at a tiny fraction of the cost of a potentially much more expensive future procedure.
For humans definitely, but my old cat’s insurance back in the US (RIP you beautiful bastard) did not cover preventative stuff. We were required to do yearly check ups (also not covered) or our policy would become invalid.
EDIT: Just checked and apparently these in the US are called [“Wellness Plans”](https://www.progressive.com/answers/does-pet-insurance-cover-routine-care/) and are distinct from insurance (though can often be bundled with it). That may explain why your insurance is so cheap here compared to the US OP.
If you run the iPet info sheets through google translate, it is clearly written that nothing preventative is covered—it’s strictly emergency stuff.
I’m not trying to be rude but why did you sign up for something you didn’t understand?
We also use ipet and it saved us so much money when one of our dogs broke his leg. We also we able to have follow up care covered too.
edit: grammar