Dear Lisa: I’m debating whether or not I should get health insurance for my six-month-old purebred Newfoundland puppy. Some of my friends have spent thousands of dollars on knee surgeries and cancer treatments and others seem to spend a fortune just on their annual health visits. Is it worth the investment and where can I find pet insurance? – Perplexed about Puppy Policy

Dear Perplexed: Pet health insurance is a rapidly growing industry. Not only are more dogs living longer lives due to better canine nutrition, but also medical advances, especially in cancer treatment, have increased the life span of dogs even further.

Canine health insurance can offset huge bills, especially in catastrophic situations. Many of us have health, homeowners, automobile, life, disability and other insurances to help pay for major expenditures and pet insurance is no different. Since you have a young puppy you need to decide whether you want a plan for major problems only or if you want a more far reaching plan that in addition covers yearly visits.

I did a comparison between two major providers. The first is newly offered this month by the American Kennel Club called the AKC Pet Healthcare Plan by Pet Partners, Inc. underwritten by the State National Insurance Company and the other provider is the well-established Veterinary Pet Insurance.

The two offer similar types of policies. The base plan offers comprehensive health care coverage (big ticket emergency items like illness and injury) and the other is the extended plan that includes comprehensive and preventive care (including vaccines, boosters, dental care, flea treatments and other preventive procedures).

I ran some comparisons for premiums and coverage. The VPI offers its Standard Plan (which may include a $99 vaccine rider) for an eight-year-old dog living in Connecticut for $283 per year and if you wanted to add the vaccine rider and a higher reimbursement for comprehensive care that would cost $436.

The AKC policy will insure any dog under nine years of age for $288 per year or $498 with preventive care added. The main difference between the two companies is the deductible and reimbursement amounts. While the AKC policy premiums may be slightly higher they offer a yearly deductible of $100 per pet versus the VPI deductible of $50 per incident. After the $100 deductible is met then the owner has a co-pay of 20 percent. The AKC will pay 80 percent of each covered claim up to the plan limit. The AKC policy also pays based on reasonable and customary charges based on your geographic area while the VPI requires a $50 deductible per incident and then pays the remaining cost based on a set fee schedule per incident. With the VPI Superior Plan (a higher premium) the set fee schedules pay more of the bill. Set fee schedules do not take geographic price differences into account.

You need to ask yourself how much can you afford on your own without insurance. If you have the financial stability to pay for expensive treatments should they be needed then maybe pet health insurance is not for you. Hopefully your pet will never get really sick. However, if a major expense comes along and you cannot afford it, having insurance will give you peace of mind that you can provide for your pet without relying on finances to be a part of your decision-making process to go ahead with expensive treatment.

VPI does offer a double cancer rider (approximately $74 premium) with higher benefits. It has been reported that 50 percent of all dogs that reach age 10 will die of cancer. So another point to consider would be to get insurance when your dog gets older. This way you could opt for expensive cancer treatments to extend the life of your pet. Then again you need to ask yourself will you spend thousands of dollars to extend your dog’s life for a few more months and at what quality of life? These far reaching questions will play into your decision to acquire pet health insurance.

As with all insurance we seem to take out policies hoping we will never need them. You need to look at your out of pocket expenses for regular vet care versus using insurance to offset those costs. Having insurance to pay for part of yearly visit plus the cost of the yearly premium may not be cost effective. You need to look at the vet charges versus the premiums in your area to help you make up your mind.

To gather more information on dog health insurance go to www.akc.org or call 800-799-5852 for their new policy, which includes a free 60-day policy for newly AKC-registered purebred puppies. Or visit Veterinarian Pet Insurance at www.petinsurance.com or call 800-USA-PETS for more information.

Lisa Peterson, a breeder and exhibitor of Norwegian Elkhounds, is a Delegate to the American Kennel Club and the owner of Peterson Pet Sitting. Ask Lisa questions at elvelmel@aol.com or P.O. Box 197, Newtown, CT 06470.