Rising vet bills drive more Americans to pet insurance

The rising cost of veterinary care is pushing more Americans to buy pet insurance, as advances in animal medicine give owners access to treatments that were uncommon or unavailable a decade ago.

For Norwalk, Ohio-based Amanda Moore, 45, whose dog Tasha was diagnosed with mammary cancer, it meant surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatment that ​has cost about $20,500 so far.

Embrace Pet Insurance reimbursed more than $14,300, she said. Embrace Pet Insurance policies are underwritten by American Modern Insurance Group.

Moore said ‌radiation treatment was quoted at roughly $3,000 to $10,000. Tasha was initially given about six months to live but is doing well more than a year after the treatments.

“I would not have been able to afford to do a lot of this myself without having pet insurance,” Moore told Reuters. “It allowed me to make decisions based on what was medically best for Tasha rather than what I could afford.”

About ​7 million pets, or more than 4% of US pets, were covered by insurance policies in 2025, according to the North American Pet Health Insurance Association, ​up 9% from the previous year and 76% from five years ago.

It is becoming the fastest-growing property and casualty…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/business