Fetch By The Dodo insurance announces vet advisors one year after calling vet professionals “moral hazard”

Fetch By The Dodo, the pet insurer also known as “Petplan,” has announced a new board of veterinary advisors, delivering on a pledge it made nearly one year ago after calling veterinary professionals a “moral hazard” in state insurance filings which TCR unearthed and reported exclusively,  subsequently igniting a social media firestorm.

TCR discovered the filings during routine monitoring and checking of pet insurance industry filings. An insurance carrier must file with each state department of insurance when a change in policy or rate is requested; an explanation for changing the policy or rate is also necessary to provide to regulators.  To explain the change to regulators, Petplan/Fetch declared veterinary professionals seeking coverage when the provider is an employer or even “business associate” to be a “moral hazard/fraud.”

Several weeks following TCR’s reporting on Petplan’ s “moral hazard” gaffe, Petplan/Fetch/The Dodo issued a statement on social media – no representative of the company ever returned requests for comment however  -apologizing to veterinary professionals for pursuing the exclusionary policy and pledged to withdraw the filings to halt the procedural process of legally implementing the policies. Petplan also vowed to form the vet advisory board, while still declining our requests to discuss it.

“Advocating for the people who care for our pets is what the Vet Advisory Board is all about,” said Paul Guyardo, President and CEO of Fetch. “I’m thrilled to be working with such an esteemed group of veterinarians to ensure that our products, policies and cause-related activities truly meet the needs of their community.”

Apparently, Mr. Guyardo is not “thrilled” enough to discuss the veterinary advisory board in a live, on-the-record interview.  Mr. Guyardo also declined to answer questions by email, including even whether and when the board would meet.

Similarly, TCR reached out to each of the seven board members – Dr. Evan Antin, Dr. Kwane Stewart, Dr. Audrey Ruple (Chair), Dr. Monica Tarantino, Dr. Kerri Rodriguez, Dr. Noe Galvan, and Dr. Aliya McCullough – and has yet to receive responses.