Dive Brief:
- With rising veterinary bills as a key driver, pet insurance remains a small but expanding voluntary (employee-paid) benefit, according to Employee Benefits News.
- EBN reports that one in three Fortune 500 companies now offer pet insurance, and SHRM research found 9% of employers say they offer pet health insurance in 2016, 5% more than just 5 years ago.
- On the demand side, a recent Harris Poll found that 65% of U.S. households own at least one pet, and Americans spent $15 billion at vet offices in 2015. With veterinary costs rising fast, pet insurance is gaining more attention from employees.
Dive Insight:
Deana Single, director of group accounts for Nationwide insurance, told EBN that a main reason employers offer pet insurance is it makes for a potent attraction/retention benefit. “The warm, fuzzy benefits like pet insurance keep people happy and increases retention,” Single told EBN.
Trinity Health, a national not-for-profit health system with a strong voluntary benefit offering (auto/home insurance, cancer insurance, life insurance, identity theft protection and pet insurance), believes “in providing colleagues with meaningful choices that support their lives and their life goals,” according to LaTasha Frye, the company's manager of total rewards benefits and well-being.
Pet insurance has been around for a long time, but it's just beginning to have an impact, especially now that more companies are turning to more robust voluntary benefit offerings. Kenny Lamberti, director of strategic engagement for companion animals at The Humane Society of the United States, told EBN that pet insurance "will look different five to 10 years from now,” especially as people face high-cost pet care procedures that can run up to $3,000 or more.