Whether it's purchased individually or acquired through an employer-based plan, pet insurance is still a perk enjoyed by only a tiny fraction of American pet owners.
Out of 174 million cats and dogs in the United States at the end of 2014, only about 1.4 million were covered by an insurance policy, according to a pet insurance trade group. That is nevertheless a significant increase from 2008, when only 680,000 were covered.
About 81 percent pet insurance policyholders are dogs. The majority of the rest are cats, but there is also a small group of people who have purchased plans for other types of pets.
|Steady increase in U.S. pet population
Pet health insurance works pretty similar to human health insurance. The policies are priced based on a number of risk factors, including age and breed. Purebreds are often more expensive to insure because, ironically, they are typically anything but pure when it comes to health.
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