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