Pet Assure is advertised as an alternative to pet insurance. You would be surprised, however, how many times I see it called an insurance company on the internet - sometimes by websites, e-books, etc. who profess to be advisers on pet health insurance.
Pet Assure is a company (club) that has a network of participating veterinary hospitals that offer their services at a discount (25%) to members of the club. Usually, the pet owner pays an annual membership fee to belong to this club and be eligible for the discounts. It is not insurance. There are no deductibles or co-pays. Pre-existing, hereditary, and chronic conditions are eligible for the discount. You receive the discount when paying your bill at the veterinarian’s office.
Even though they advertise that there are no exclusions, services and products that aren’t eligible for a discount are any medication you are sent home with, food, flea and tick or heartworm preventatives, boarding or grooming, outside lab tests, referral to a specialist, and any product or procedure that is already discounted. The annual membership for a dog is $99 and $59 for a cat. They do have a family plan where up to 4 pets are covered for an annual membership of $149.
The main problem with a network such as this is that it requires the veterinarian/hospital to discount their services. Therefore, there are often a very limited number of veterinarians participating in a given city or community. In other words, the veterinarian that you prefer and have an established relationship with may not and/or will not participate in such a network.
You can read the reviews on Pet Assure as compared to insurance companies. You will even find some of the people who wrote the reviews referring to Pet Assure as insurance. For some pet owners - especially those with several pets, and if there are participating veterinarians in the area that they like, Pet Assure may be helpful. As with insurance, know that there are things that aren't eligible for the discount and that your savings are limited to 25%