Does pet insurance cover vet visits?
Vet visits for a covered accident or illness are generally reimbursed, but routine and wellness visits are excluded from a base policy unless you add a wellness plan.
What flips the answer
- Covered when
The visit is to diagnose or treat a covered accident or illness that arose after the waiting period.
- Covered when
You've added a wellness or preventive-care plan that reimburses routine exams and checkups.
- Not covered when
It's a routine wellness exam or preventive visit and you have only a base accident-and-illness policy, or the visit is for a pre-existing condition.
A standard accident-and-illness policy reimburses the exam fee and workup when you take your pet in for a covered injury or sickness — the sick visit itself is part of the covered claim, along with any diagnostics and treatment, subject to your deductible, reimbursement percentage, and limits.
Routine and preventive visits are a different category. An annual wellness exam, a checkup, or a visit purely for vaccines is scheduled preventive care, so a base policy excludes it the same way it excludes the vaccines given at that appointment. A wellness or preventive-care add-on is the route to reimbursement for those routine visits.
The pre-existing rule applies to sick visits: if the reason for the visit is a condition that was present or symptomatic before enrollment or during the waiting period, the visit and related care are excluded.
That's the general answer. Yours is written in your actual policy.
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