Most pet insurance providers offer a standard plan and a wellness plan. The difference is that typical pet insurance covers unexpected costs related to accidents and illnesses, such as surgery and medication. Pet wellness plans cover preventive health care, such as routine vet visits, vaccinations and spaying/neutering.
Many of the best pet insurance companies offer excellent pet wellness plans. We at the Guides Home Team have provided our top recommendations and compared their pros and cons to help you find the right coverage.
The Best Pet Wellness Plans
Here are our top picks for pet insurance providers that also offer pet wellness plans:
What is a Pet Wellness Plan?
A pet wellness plan covers routine health care such as annual vet checkups, lab work, blood work, vaccines, dental treatments and more. These routine treatments and check-ups are essential to maintaining your pet’s health. A pet wellness plan often only covers preventive care and does not include accident and illness coverage, so most pet insurance companies call their wellness plans a preventive care plan.
Pet wellness plans are typically an add-on to pet insurance and come with an additional monthly premium. Preventative care packages are usually between $10 and $25 per month in addition to the pet insurance premium.
Pet Insurance vs. Pet Wellness Plans
Pet insurance plans typically cover costs associated with accidents and illnesses. They don’t include wellness coverage.
The table below compares coverage for a pet insurance policy versus a pet wellness plan.
Watch the video below to learn more in-depth differences between pet insurance plans and preventative care plans by Heart and Paw.
How Much Do Pet Wellness Plans Cost?
The cost of a preventative care add-on will depend heavily on the provider and the amount of coverage included. Pet owners cannot buy just a pet wellness plan; they must also buy an accident-and-illness or accident-only insurance plan.
Most pet insurance companies offer the same pet wellness plan option for all breeds. The table below has a breakdown of pet wellness plan costs and the overall cost for both pet insurance and preventative care.
Lemonade Pet Insurance: Most Affordable Plans
Lemonade offers pet insurance with wellness plan add-ons to customers across the United States. Its pet insurance policies are more affordable than many competitors, making them ideal for pet parents on a budget. Lemonade also offers an impressive mobile app to manage your pet’s health, file claims and track your policy coverage and billing.
Lemonade offers two add-on plans for preventive and routine care. Each plan has a different cost and coverage level. The less expensive plan covers a wellness exam, a fecal test, three vaccines, a heartworm test and a blood test. The more expensive plan covers flea, tick, heartworm medication, and routine dental cleaning.
Pros and Cons
+ Offers extra preventive care treatments for puppies and kittens under 2 years old
+ Has a waiting period of two days for accidents, shorter than many competitors
+ Offers a 10{7b6cc35713332e03d34197859d8d439e4802eb556451407ffda280a51e3c41ac} discount for bundling your pet insurance policy with Lemonade home insurance or renters insurance
— Isn’t available in 15 states
— Requires complete records from a recent vet exam to qualify for coverage
— Doesn’t cover pets over 14 years old
Lemonade Pet Insurance Wellness Plan Coverage
The Lemonade Preventative Package is the company’s cheapest wellness add-on. It costs $15 to $20 for dogs and $10 to $15 for cats. Coverage includes the following treatments with certain per-item limits, depending on your policy’s reimbursement rate:
The Lemonade Preventative+ Package has higher monthly payments of $20 to $27 for dogs and $15 to $22 for cats. It includes everything in the table above plus the following treatments, with certain per-item limits based on your policy’s reimbursement rate:
To learn more: Lemonade Pet Insurance review
Spot Pet Insurance: Most Customizable
Spot Pet Insurance has more customizable policies than most competitors, allowing you to find the right coverage at an affordable rate. Its annual limit options range from $2,500 to unlimited.
Spot’s policies also cover items other pet insurance providers don’t, such as exam fees and microchipping. You can add one of Spot’s preventive care plans for routine care coverage.
Pros and Cons of Spot Pet Insurance
+ Provides an unlimited annual coverage option
+ Doesn’t have an age limit for older animals, unlike some competitors
+ Covers microchip implantation and exam fees in standard policies, which competitors don’t typically cover
– Has a waiting period of 14 days for accidents, longer than some competitors
– Doesn’t have customer service on weekends
Spot Pet Insurance Wellness Plan Coverage
You can purchase one of Spot’s preventive care plans for your pet’s routine care. The Gold preventive plan costs an additional $9.95 monthly and comes with a $250 per-treatment limit per year. Below is a list of each covered item in the Gold plan and its annual benefit:
Spot’s Platinum preventive plan is more expensive at an additional $24.95 per month for $450 of total per-item limits per year. It includes the following treatments:
To learn more: Spot Pet Insurance review
Embrace Pet Insurance: Our Pick for Savings
Embrace stands out for its additional savings, including a 10{7b6cc35713332e03d34197859d8d439e4802eb556451407ffda280a51e3c41ac} discount for each additional pet policy you purchase, a 5{7b6cc35713332e03d34197859d8d439e4802eb556451407ffda280a51e3c41ac} military discount and a 10{7b6cc35713332e03d34197859d8d439e4802eb556451407ffda280a51e3c41ac} discount for employees of companies that offer Embrace pet insurance.
Embrace also offers the Healthy Pet Deductible benefit, which credits pet owners with $50 toward their co-payment each year that they don’t file a claim. This credit could lower your deductible to $0 if your pet goes without getting sick or injured for multiple years.
Pros and Cons
+ Reduces your deductible by $50 each year you don’t file a claim
+ Covers all routine pet costs through a comprehensive wellness plan
+ Provides online customer support via live chat
– Includes a $650 annual limit for its wellness plan
– Excludes supplements and prescription food from coverage
Embrace Pet Insurance Wellness Plan Coverage
Embrace’s Wellness Rewards add-on covers preventive care for an extra $18 to $53 per month. You can choose between $250, $450 or $650 of annual coverage limits. This plan pays 100{7b6cc35713332e03d34197859d8d439e4802eb556451407ffda280a51e3c41ac} of costs up to the annual limit rather than only paying specified per-treatment limits like most competitors. Below are the items covered in Embrace’s Wellness Rewards add-on:
- Cremation or burial
- Fecal and routine blood tests
- Flea, tick and heartworm preventives
- Gastropexy
- Grooming
- Hip dysplasia exams, radiographs or other OFA testing
- Medicated shampoos
- Microchipping
- Nutritional supplements
- Prescription diet food
- Preventive teeth cleaning
- Reiki, massage therapy, acupuncture
- Routine anal gland expression
- Routine chiropractic care
- Spay/neuter surgery
- Toenail trimming
- Training
- Wearable pet activity monitors
- Wellness exam fees
- Vaccinations and titers
Note: The Wellness Rewards plan is not available in Rhode Island.
To learn more: Embrace Pet Insurance review
ASPCA Pet Health Insurance: Most Experienced
ASPCA Pet Health Insurance is one of the most well-known providers in the pet insurance industry, with more than 15 years of experience. Reputable insurer Crum and Forster Pet Insurance Group services ASPCA’s claims, and the company also partners with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).
ASPCA offers two comprehensive wellness plans, including coverage for core vaccines and the option for an unlimited annual limit.
Pros and Cons
+ Offers two levels of optional wellness care
+ Covers microchipping in every plan
+ Offers an accident-only plan at a low monthly cost
– Has a max annual coverage limit of $10,000, lower than most providers
– Charges a transaction fee for monthly premium payments
ASPCA Pet Health Insurance Wellness Plan Coverage
ASPCA Pet Health Insurance offers two wellness add-ons. The Preventative Basic add-on is the cheaper plan at $9.95 per month for $250 in annual routine care coverage. Below is a breakdown of what’s covered in the Preventative Basic add-on:
The Preventative Prime add-on is more comprehensive. It costs $24.95 per month and includes the following procedures and annual limits for total annual coverage of $450.
*Distemper, hepatitis, parainfluenza and parvovirus vaccine
To learn more: ASPCA Pet Insurance review
Pets Best: Our Pick for Senior Pets
Pets Best is an excellent option for people with older pets. The company has no upper age limit, so you can enroll your pet anytime. Pets Best also offers two wellness plan options, so you can pick the one that best fits your budget.
Pros and Cons
+ Offers an unlimited coverage limit option
+ Has no upper age limits for coverage
+ Includes a 24/7 Pet Helpline
– Limits annual coverage caps to $5,000 or unlimited
– Is more expensive than some competitors
Pets Best Wellness Plan Coverage
Pets Best offers two wellness plans. Its EssentialWellness plan is $16 per month* and provides annual benefits of $305. Below are the plan’s covered items and their annual limits.
*$14 per month in Washington.
The company’s other wellness plan, BestWellness, is $26 per month* with annual benefits of $535. It covers everything from the EssentialWellness package with a higher level of reimbursement.
*30 per month in Washington.
To learn more: Pets Best Pet Insurance review
Is a Pet Wellness Plan Worth It?
A pet wellness plan can be worth it. Though routine pet care costs less than surgeries or cancer treatments, you’ll ultimately spend more on preventive care throughout your pet’s lifetime if you don’t have a wellness plan.
According to health care financing company Care Credit, vet exams, core vaccinations, and procedures such as spaying or neutering and microchip implantations can total $1,800 in a puppy’s first year. The first-year cost for a cat is nearly $1,200.
Without a wellness plan, pet owners should plan to spend $7,600 to $19,000 in veterinary care over their cat or dog’s lifetime. A wellness plan offers anywhere between 80{7b6cc35713332e03d34197859d8d439e4802eb556451407ffda280a51e3c41ac} to 100{7b6cc35713332e03d34197859d8d439e4802eb556451407ffda280a51e3c41ac} reimbursement for this necessary health care. Instead of accumulating high costs over time, you pay a small monthly fee to ensure your furry companion remains happy and healthy.
Do Pet Wellness Plans Have Waiting Periods?
Every pet insurance company has waiting periods before coverage begins, which also applies to wellness plans. The average waiting period for a pet insurance policy is one to two weeks. Be sure to enroll in a pet insurance plan with an additional wellness plan before starting routine care to receive coverage.
Do Pet Wellness Plans Cover Preexisting Conditions?
No, pet wellness plans don’t cover preexisting conditions. Unfortunately, no pet insurer currently covers preexisting conditions. Insurance companies see pets with these medical conditions as costly and high-risk investments, especially since they’re guaranteed to need veterinary care in the foreseeable future.
However, some companies will distinguish between curable and incurable conditions, opting to cover curable conditions with specific stipulations. In addition, some routine treatments covered in wellness plans may help cure these conditions.
The Bottom Line: Should I Purchase a Pet Wellness Plan?
Pet wellness plans cover preventive care for your animal needs and make these routine costs more affordable in the long run. A wellness plan eases the financial burden of your pet’s regular care and health issues when paired with a comprehensive accident-and-illness plan.
We recommend getting three quotes from top pet insurance companies to compare their accident-and-illness and wellness plans closely. Use the tool below to get free quotes from some of our top recommendations.
Other Pet Insurance Resources
Read some of our additional pet insurance resources below:
Methodology: Our System for Ranking the Best Pet Insurance Companies
Our review of pet insurance companies is based on in-depth industry research that includes reading hundreds of customer reviews, scoping quote and purchasing processes by secret shopping, speaking to representatives on the phone to assess the customer service experience, and surveying 1,000 dog and cat owners nationwide to determine the most important elements of pet insurance coverage.
We scored each provider on a 100-point scale based on those elements. We then divided this final score by 20 to calculate an overall star rating out of 5.0 stars.
Here are more details about each factor and how it’s weighted:
- Monthly pricing (25 points): The best pet insurance companies combine comprehensive coverage and plan options with affordable rates.
- Plans (15 points): The top pet insurance companies offer accident-and-illness plans, accident-only plans and wellness or preventive care add-ons to give customers the option to choose a plan that’s best for their pet.
- Covered treatments (15 points): We scored companies based on the treatments and procedures they cover. Companies with a breadth of included treatments and unique coverages received more points than providers with more standard or general policies.
- Customization options (10 points): Providers with more annual-limit, deductible and reimbursement-rate options earned the highest scores.
- Customer care (10 points): We scored companies on their website accessibility and overall usability, customer service availability, mobile apps (if any), money-back guarantees and veterinarian telehealth options, awarding points to the insurers with more customer experience offerings.
- Industry reputation (10 points): We reviewed up-to-date ratings and accreditation information from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and scored companies on their years of industry experience and state availability.
- Waiting periods (10 points): Companies with shorter accident, illness and orthopedic waiting periods between the sign-up and coverage start date scored higher than companies with longer waiting periods.
- Eligible age (5 points): Some companies don’t offer policies for pets that are over a certain age. We deducted points from providers that have age limits for covered pets.
We use our rating system to compare and contrast each company against key factors to help us determine the best pet insurance companies in the industry. To learn more, read our full pet insurance methodology for reviewing and scoring providers.
Alex Hawkins is an avid writer and researcher specializing in solar, pet insurance and home improvement. When he isn’t surveying homeowners to understand their pain points or speaking with professionals in the industries he covers, Alex can often be found creating videos for his YouTube channel, Analysis with Alex, or attending a heavy metal show.
Dana Getz is a seasoned editor with nearly a decade of experience writing and editing content. She has a background in journalism and worked as a fact-checker for prestigious magazines such as New York and Chicago. She holds a journalism and marketing degree from Northwestern University and has worked across numerous categories within the home services space.