Hi--I just read an article on the "staying power of pet insurance." The article (from Employee Benefit News magazine) noted the rising costs of veterinary care (about 7% a year) and that bills of $5,000 and higher are not uncommon. The main point was that pet insurance is not just another fad and should no longer be viewed as a "feel-good" benefit with little value.

 I have heard more than a few tales of woe from our staff members who have hefty veterinary bills--and after reading this article I am considering it seriously--but was hoping to hear from others who have already tried it. I haven't contacted any vendors yet, and thought I'd reach out to you all before I make that move.

Do any of you currently offer pet insurance? How was it received by your employees? Are you glad that you decided to offer it? Or was it not worth the trouble?

I am a pet lover and have two pets of my own.

Honestly, I think this is a benefit the employee can acquire on their own personally without the employer having to be involved -- just google "pet insurance".  To me there are many benefits out there available in the free/open marketplace on an individual basis.  Those should be left to the employee to acquire if they wish. I think at times the employer has gotten way too involved.  Our goal is to provide benefits that the worker can not easily obtain in the free/open marketplace for a reasonable cost...such as health, dental, and life insurance, STD/LTD, 401k plan, etc. to help protect them from certain large life events. 

As not only the benefits administrator, but payroll processor and HR guru, even though there may be no "cost" to the employer to provide these plans, there is time involved to administer them (changes, payments, etc).  It would not be something I would want to spend my time on.

Honestly, most of my employees are having a hard time with the employee part of the health insurance premium. Only 8 out of 25 carry any extra life insurance. When they had to pay a premium for STD/LTD, no one participated.  So I definitely don't think there would be much participation here.

And I have never had an employee request this benefit.  And I have never had a recruit/employee not stay in their job position because it is not offered.  I would suspect that if you asked employees to list benefits they would like to have, this would be no where near the top of the list....I'd be curious how much the article valued this benefit in terms of other benefits.  Did it give any type of indication of where it fell?