Pets Best vs Healthy Paws
Healthy Paws wins on coverage depth: unlimited payouts, no accident waiting period, and our top score of 9.3/10 against 8.1 for Pets Best. Pets Best wins on speed and on knees: its 3-day accident wait can be waived entirely with a qualifying vet exam, and its 14-day orthopedic wait in most states is dramatically shorter than the industry norm, where Healthy Paws excludes hip dysplasia outright for dogs enrolled at 6 or older. Illustrative starting prices are close, about $33/mo versus $44/mo for a young dog. For a young healthy dog, Healthy Paws. For an older dog or a breed with knee risk, Pets Best deserves the look.
Side by side
| Pets Best | Healthy Paws | |
|---|---|---|
| Editorial score (dogs) | 8.1/10 | 9.3/10 |
| Illustrative starting price | dogs from $33/mo, cats from $14/mo | dogs from $44/mo, cats from $24/mo |
| 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) | No waiting period |
| Illness wait | 14 days | 15 days |
| Orthopedic / cruciate wait | 14 days in most states , well short of the 6-to-12-month holds common elsewhere for cruciate ligament and hip dysplasia claims | Hip dysplasia waits 30 or 365 days (depends on state) for pets enrolled at 6 or younger; 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 | No, reimbursement only |
Starting prices are illustrative estimates for a healthy one-year-old animal, not quotes. Your real premium depends on breed, age, ZIP code, deductible and reimbursement rate.
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 has the shortest accident waiting period going (3 days, waivable with a vet exam within 30 days of enrollment) and a 14-day orthopedic wait in most states, far short of the 6-to-12-month holds common elsewhere. It also sells wellness in two tiers and starts from a lower illustrative price of about $33/mo. The weak spots: exam fees cost extra on the base Essential plan, and a cruciate injury on one knee excludes the other.
Choose Healthy Paws if
You want the deepest coverage for a younger dog. Healthy Paws pays out with no annual limit, has no accident waiting period, and scores 9.3/10 in our rankings. 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.
Questions
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Written by the WhichPetPlan editorial team. We currently earn no commission from any insurer listed, so no comparison here is paid placement. Scores are our own editorial ratings, not an industry standard. See our methodology for how scores are set.