By Allison Binning
Furry Babies and Furry Bills
We all know the “pet parents”-- dual-income, no kids, but they’ll tell you that their dog is their “fur baby.” Or perhaps you’ve seen two different kinds of babies going for a walk in the park: dad with a stroller and mom with a leash, both walking with their two well-loved children. Maybe you’re one of these parents to beloved fur babies– whether your baby is a Great Dane, a Corgi, or a Maine Coon, they’re part of the family! In fact, 95% of pet parents consider their pets to be a member of the family. But how often are our fur babies covered when catastrophe strikes? 70% of pet parents stress about the cost of veterinary care- yet only 4% of pets are covered. When the time comes to pay a pet’s bills, many families are left scrambling.
"Unlike human children, there's rarely a pet health savings option included as an employer benefit which offers comprehensive and effective pet care solutions." Courtney Brost is the Director of Marketing at United Pet Care, a pet healthcare savings option for top employers around the nation. She says that the problem with pet insurance is that, “pet insurance does not provide value or effective care for the majority of pets and pet parents. Not all pets are covered, premiums are cost prohibitive, needed care is excluded, payments are retrospective and subject to approval, and the whole system is confusing and unfriendly to pet parents and their care providers.”
As a result, employees can end up stressed about vet bills and unhappy with their benefits packages, making them less loyal to their employer and more willing to switch to a job that offers more secure benefits.
Providing Pets With Protection
As employees place more value on pet care, so should employers and brokers. That’s where United Pet Care (UPC) steps in. As opposed to pet insurance, UPC seeks to “make world class pet care affordable and accessible to pet parents everywhere by providing a better-than-pet insurance alternative for employers.” Since they don’t underwrite like insurance, UPC covers pets of all ages, breeds, and animal types, along with pre-existing and breed-specific conditions. Members save 25-50% off each visit to the vet instantly at checkout, along with exclusive perks such as a 24/7 pet helpline with veterinary experts who triage pet parent questions, discounts on from-home testing kits, and a human equivalent pet prescription savings card. “We work with a network of 1500+ veterinarian clinics across the country to provide a model which allows our members to save instantly at the vet with no wait times, claim forms, or reimbursements,” Brost says.
UPC’s mission is, “to close the gap on a comprehensive benefits package, thereby increasing employee satisfaction with a low-maintenance program at little to no cost to the employer sponsors,” making it a win for both the employees and their employer. Employees get to benefit from instant pet care savings, while employers have a competitive advantage to maintain and hire top talent. UPC also seamlessly integrates with nearly every major benefit administration system. This makes it as easy as a click of a button for employees to automatically start payroll deductions. There’s also a portal for brokers and employers, where they can access UPC employee member information as well as their suite of marketing materials, making it easy for brokers and employers to leverage UPC’s program to engage employees with the pet care solution. Brost also notes that “once the program is implemented and ideally integrated with the employer's benefits administration system, the program will run on its own, reducing any additional lift for the broker or HR team.” As an engaging pet care solution that is easy to integrate into an existing benefits package, UPC is beneficial to all employers looking for creative ways to keep their employees happy and satisfied with their jobs.
Protecting Pets like Family
Brandee Marvin, HR Generalist at SurePrep LLC, remembers her own experience when UPC saved her from a stressful vet bill. “My Goldendoodle, Buffy... hurt her paw. I was able to call in to customer support and change vets so the new vet was able to get her in. And we still got amazing discounts with the program!” Without UPC’s help, Marvin says that she wouldn’t have been able to get her dog the same-day care needed to treat the wound; she also wouldn’t have saved nearly as much money without the program’s discounts.
That’s why she recommended UPC for her company and why she feels that every company should offer the same. “I can’t state enough how many of our employees wanted pet care for their furry children– so many people have furry children! I really feel like it’s something that every company should offer because we want to make sure that we’re giving employees what they’re asking for,” Marvin said. After all, our pets are our family– even when they scratch up your chairs or bark when the doorbell rings. United Pet Care understands that we want to protect our family, and they want to save people from the vet bills that can prevent people from helping our pets. “We believe that pets are family,” Brost says, “and they deserve to be treated as such.”
We are proud to feature United Pet Care on The Granite List.
