Does Pet Insurance Cover Simparica Trio?

Each​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌ year, American owners of pets lay out more than $35 billion for veterinary services. One of the hottest monthly preventatives available right now is Simparica Trio. However, if you plan to rely on pet insurance for paying, it is better that you read this first.

Does Pet Insurance Cover Simparica Trio?

The simple reply is that the majority of pet insurance instruments don’t consider Simparica Trio as covered under a regular accident and illness policy. This is something that most pet owners are shocked at since they think that their insurance is going to cover all their veterinarian-related costs. At the same time, Simparica Trio is in a very specific category that a lot of standard policies exclude by default.

What Exactly Is Simparica Trio?

Simparica Trio is a chewy tablet for dogs that should be given every month. It guards against three different kinds of dangers with a single tablet.

It shields from:

• Fleas and ticks, including several species that carry disease
• Prevention of heartworm disease through monthly administration
• Roundworms and hookworms, which are typical intestinal parasites

Veterinarians recommend it heavily because it eliminates the need for three different products with just one tablet. The average cost of a monthly supply ranges from $20 to $30 per dose, depending on your dog’s weight and your location.

Why Does Standard Pet Insurance Not Cover It?

Standard pet insurance policies only cover accidents and illnesses. Simparica Trio is a preventative medicine. Insurers label such medication as routine or wellness care instead of associating it with the treatment of a health condition.

Imagine, for instance, a pet insurance that operates just like a human health insurance. When you get ill, they cover your treatment, but daily vitamins and supplements are not covered. In the same way, Simparica Trio is a supplement for your dog.

More often than not, the following are excluded from basic pet insurance coverage:

• Routine flea and tick prevention
• Heartworm prevention medications
• Deworming treatments are administered as standard prevention
• Annual wellness exams and vaccines
• Teeth cleaning and grooming

All these are things that one would usually consider the upkeep of the pet rather than a medical expense.

Can Any Pet Insurance Plan Cover Simparica Trio?

They do, but for that, you will require a particular type of coverage. Here is where a lot of pet owners don’t succeed, since they don’t read their plan options ​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌thoroughly.

Here is a breakdown of how different plan types handle Simparica Trio:

The key is the wellness add-on or wellness rider. Many insurers offer this as an optional upgrade to your base policy for an additional monthly fee.

What​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌ Is a Wellness Add-On and How Does It Work?

Essentially, a wellness add-on or wellness rider is a supplementary part of the pet insurance policy that you can add. It compensates for the coverage of preventive and routine care that are not included in a basic insurance policy.

Normally, you get an annual budget for the routine expenses through a wellness add-on. The insurance company sets a fixed sum every year, and you can send the receipts of the expenses for reimbursement until the amount is exhausted.

Wellness plans, for instance, cover:

• Flea, tick, and heartworm medications, including Simparica Trio
• Wellness checkups at the veterinary clinic
• Essential vaccines such as rabies and distemper
• Cleaning of teeth within the specified annual allowance
• Depending on the plan: spay/neuter operations
• Fecal analyses and blood tests for general screening

Depending on the company and the type of wellness package you go for, the yearly wellness budget usually amounts to $250 – $650.

Which Pet Insurance Providers Offer Wellness Coverage?

There are quite a few pet insurance companies with familiar names that provide wellness riders that could be used to cover Simparica Trio, for example, Spot, ASPCA Pet Health Insurance, Embrace, Lemonade, and Fetch. The wellness plans of these companies differ from each other.

Some companies sell the wellness plans in different grades so that the higher the monthly payment, the greater the annual reimbursement limit. Then there are firms that automatically integrate wellness coverage in their most comprehensive plans.

Just before registering, pick up the phone and get in touch with the insurance company and ask a very clear question: Will your wellness package cover the monthly flea, tick, and heartworm prevention that requires prescriptions? It is a very simple question to get rid of any hesitation before you make a commitment.

Is Adding Wellness Coverage Worth the Extra Cost?

What your dog takes monthly and your total yearly vet expenses determine this.

You can do the math with your own figures. In case Simparica Trio costs $25 per dose, and your dog is taking it 12 times a year, it results in an annual amount of $300 just for that single medication. Include one examination a year at $60 to $100 and a rabies vaccine, and you have already put up over $400 for routine expenses in a year.

Maybe a wellness rider that would cover all the above items will be in the price range of $20 to $35 per month, which is $240 to $420 per year. Quite often, the sum calculation is in your favor.

If your dog will also be the one in need of:

• Dental cleaning once a year that cost $300 to $700 without any coverage
• Spending on heartworm tests that the doctor requires before starting prevention
• Fecal examinations that a vet recommends to be done annually
• Titre tests to ascertain vaccine immunity levels

Options to consider in the case of a wellness add-on become more attractive if your dog is not only young and healthy, but you are mainly focusing on prevention items.

What to Check Before Buying a Wellness Plan for Simparica Trio

Before you go ahead and pay for a wellness plan that you expect to cover Simparica Trio, always do some inquiries first with the company offering the insurance.

Verify these aspects before making a commitment:

• Whether they cover only prescription preventatives and not just over-the-counter products
• The way they handle reimbursement, whether it is a flat allowance or a percentage-based system
• If wellness benefits have a waiting period before they get activated
• The yearly limit and check with your actual yearly routine costs
• Whether unused wellness funds will be carried forward to the next year, or will they expire

Such features differ from provider to provider, and they have a significant effect on whether a plan is a good deal for your needs.

Final Thoughts

Pet insurance by itself won’t cover Simparica Trio. A basic accident and illness plan won’t support you financially for it. However, with a wellness rider that is just right for you, you could get coverage that can make your monthly prevention expenses a bit more bearable.

The worst thing you can do is assume that your current plan includes it without verifying it. A quick phone call to your insurer or a few minutes spent reading your policy summary will let you know exactly where you stand.

Your dog needs continual protection, and your wallet needs a plan that really works. Visit insurancheck.com to compare pet insurance plans with wellness ​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌coverage.

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