Pets Best vs Healthy Paws
Healthy Paws wins on coverage depth: unlimited payouts and our top score of 9.3/10 against 8.1 for Pets Best. Accident cover waits 15 days in most states. Pets Best has a short 3-day accident wait (waivable with a qualifying vet exam). Cruciate ligament events at Pets Best wait 6 months, and that wait may be reduced or waived when a participating veterinarian certifies the pet. Healthy Paws excludes hip dysplasia outright for dogs enrolled at 6 or older. For a young healthy dog, Healthy Paws. For an older dog or a breed with knee risk, read both waiting-period rules before you pick.
Side by side
| Pets Best | Healthy Paws | |
|---|---|---|
| Editorial score (dogs) | 8.1/10 | 9.3/10 |
| Annual limit | $5k-unlimited | Unlimited |
| Deductible | Annual, $50/$100/$200/$250/$500/$1,000 | One annual deductible, chosen at enrollment: $100, $250, $500 or $1,000 |
| Reimbursement options | 70%, 80% or 90% | 70%, 80% or 90% |
| Accident wait | 3 days (waivable entirely with a qualifying vet exam submitted within 30 days of enrollment) | 15 days after the policy effective date in most states. 0 days in CA, DE, FL, HI, LA, MD, ME, MS, MT, NE, NH, OH, PA, RI, VT, WA for accident-related conditions (those states still apply a 15-day wait to illness, injury and orthopedic conditions not from an accident) |
| Illness wait | 14 days | 15 days after the policy effective date |
| Orthopedic / cruciate wait | 6 months for cruciate ligament events. Waiting periods may be reduced or waived when a participating veterinarian certifies the pet (exam up to 3 days before or 7 days after the effective date; form back within 30 days of the exam) | Hip dysplasia waits 12 months in most states for pets enrolled at age 5 or below, or 30 days in CA, DE, FL, HI, LA, MD, ME, MS, MT, NE, NH, OH, PA, RI, VT and WA (depends on state). Pets enrolled at 6 or older are not covered for hip dysplasia at all |
| Wellness add-on | Available | Not offered |
| Direct vet pay | No, reimbursement only | Yes (VetDirect Pay) |
Compare current quotes for the same pet and ZIP code, using the same deductible, reimbursement rate, annual limit, and add-ons. Older catalog price examples do not establish which insurer costs less today.
Pre-existing conditions
Pets Best: Not covered, standard exclusion for signs shown before enrollment or during the waiting period.
Healthy Paws: Not covered. A condition counts as pre-existing if it showed any sign, even undiagnosed, before your policy started or during the 15-day waiting period. If one knee's cruciate ligament was hurt before enrollment or during the wait, the other knee's cruciate is excluded too.
Choose Pets Best if
Your dog is older, or you are insuring a breed with real cruciate risk. Pets Best offers two wellness tiers and has a short 3-day accident wait (waivable with a vet exam within 30 days of enrollment). Cruciate ligament events wait 6 months, and that wait may be reduced or waived when a participating veterinarian certifies the pet. The weak spots: exam fees cost extra on the base Essential plan.
Choose Healthy Paws if
You want the deepest coverage for a younger dog. Healthy Paws pays out with no annual limit and scores 9.3/10 in our rankings. Accident cover waits 15 days in most states. The hard exclusions to know: no wellness add-on at any tier, premiums climb steeply after age eight, and dogs enrolled at 6 or older get no hip dysplasia coverage at all.
The exclusions cheat sheet
A plain-English guide to waiting periods and key exclusions across eight insurers, with links to the full reviews.
Questions
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Written by the WhichPetPlan editorial team. Scores are our own editorial ratings, not an industry standard. See our methodology for how scores are set.