Regulators gathering at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (NAIC) Summer National Meeting voted to adopt the Pet Insurance Model […]
“The rising cost of care will make it only more difficult for the average pet owner to budget for the unexpected, and veterinarians still need to raise their prices…We want to empower veterinarians to offer and practice the best medicine, removing the emotional toll of heart-wrenching decisions forced by financial constraints…”
The Pet Insurance Model Law, now three-years-in-the-making, was put to a vote today by Working Group charged with producing it, […]
Is it true that TCR bans the use of the term “investigative journalism” ?
Yes. It’s redundant. A journalist’s job is to investigate.
The term is a product of a new phenomenon born out of digital communication or journalism by email, Tweet, etc. which is intended to distinguish actual reporting from what most ‘reporting’ is now, in the post-Internet age. Woodward and Bernstein were not “investigative journalists.” Bob Woodward was a cub reporter on the metro desk assigned to cover a local burglary, Watergate. Woodward would be the first to say – and does say – that journalism is about showing up and outworking every person around you. All journalism demands showing up and being a surrogate for your readers.
Last Friday, we reported that pet health insurer Petplan — now rebranded as “Fetch by the Dodo” to reflect its new partnership with The Dodo, the animal-loving viral video blog – had started rolling out an exclusion in its policy that slashes coverage options for veterinary professionals. Now we can report that the insurer explained the move by declaring veterinary professionals a “moral hazard/fraud [risk]” in the cover letter of the filing we reported last week.
Why Would Petplan Slash Coverage For Veterinary Professionals?
Are veterinary professionals not the people a pet insurance provider would want on its good side for client referrals? Actuary data shows that veterinary professionals tend to adopt “what we consider ‘lemons’ as their companions,” explained Margi Tooth, the President of Trupanion, a Petplan competitor which does not have the same exclusion. “What this inevitably means,” she added, “is that their pets have a higher rate of utilization that the average pet owner. There’s no conspiracy here – it’s a profession that can’t face putting a pet to sleep that could be saved – so when an owner walks in with a sick pet that they can’t afford to treat, they’re often adopted by the team in the hospital. These folks are heroes on many levels.”
The blockbuster Seresto flea-and-tick collar was skewered by lawmakers yesterday, who renewed their calls for parent company Elanco Animal Health, […]
Until a few weeks ago, dog owners searching for a way to calm their anxious canines could purchase “Nobel Hemp […]
On December 7, 2021, Trupanion, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRUP), the “medical insurance for pets” provider announced a partnership with Chewy, Inc. (NYSE: […]
In Maine, a state senator and dog lover decided she had waited long enough for pet insurance legislation. When the […]