Affordable Pet Health Care is Important too

By J. Hilty H. Burr Sr. DVM 

With the passage of Healthcare reform, there is the hope that the spiraling health care costs will be reduced or at least slowed down.  As human healthcare costs have increased over the years, the same has been occurring in the area of pet health care.  Since the medications, equipment, and technology that are used in people are also used in pets, it is not surprising that treating Fido is getting more expensive, especially since pet owners now expect and even demand the same favorable outcomes.  Human health insurance has been the key to help people pay for unexpected medical illness or injuries.  For the insured, the sting of high costs is not really felt to any great extent once the deductible(s) are met and only the co-pay is required.  Although there is concern for the 30 million people that don’t have health insurance and, indeed, this is the main reason that Congress and President Obama justified the recent overhaul of the US health care system; the reality is that most US citizens have some form of health insurance.  The reverse is true when we think about pet health care where we see that only 3% of all family pets have pet health insurance.  Therefore, for 97% of us, when the veterinary bills come along, they must be paid with unbudgeted disposable income which, in the case of catastrophic injury or illness, can cause significant financial distress.  Despite the availability of excellent pet health insurance policies that are now in the market place, the reality is there is no widespread use of pet insurance and this leaves the general public with the perception in many cases that veterinary care is simply too expensive.

Most veterinarians are keenly aware of this problem and have identified and/or developed several ways to help their clients with these types of pet care financial dilemmas.  Lake Chatuge Animal Hospital (LCAH) in Young Harris has undertaken several measures to ensure pet health care is fairly priced and more affordable.  First, LCAH uses simple market research done by a consultant who annually assesses the demographics of the local area.  This information allows them to provide fair pricing and meet their increasing overhead costs that include high quality and well trained professional staff in a modern   clean facility.  Secondly, they have taken steps to assist their clients with any financial hardship that their pet medical expenses may cause.  This is achieved by providing several different methods of payment or assistance.

• Care Credit™ is a computerized third party lender that provides either 0% interest, three to twelve month payment options, or longer low interest loans.
• Easy Pay is an in-house payment option over time.
• Affordable Pet Care™ is an Atlanta based member pet care discount service purchased by the pet owner to receive 10-20% discounts on most products and services for all of their pets (great for owners who have several pets or have a pet with lots of health needs).
• Several pet insurance companies that LCAH has researched and found to have excellent affordable policies.
• The John Todd Jr. Memorial Good Samaritan Fund is a contribution fund by staff and clients that has been established to help pay for hardship cases that have special merit.
• Low cost spay/neuter services provided through county and GA state subsidized coupons or through local rescue groups like Logan’s Run Rescue, Castaway Critters, Human Society Mtn. Shelter, Whiskers Project and SPCA organizations.  LCAH routinely spays or neuters 20 or more pets per week for these groups.

In an effort to help those that probably need it most in this down economy, LCAH is announcing a new senior citizen discount program that will help senior citizens continue to provide high quality care to their beloved pets.  This is for clients who are 65 years of age and older who do not have pet insurance and are not using another discount option that will allow them a 10% across the board discount on all services and products excluding professional grooming services.  Aware of the hard times right now, area veterinary hospitals and clinics are working hard to make sure their clients can continue to provide the necessary care that enables their pets to live longer and healthier lives.