Embrace Pet Insurance Review

We love that Embrace covers up to $1000 in dental expenses for each policy term on their full coverage plan. You'll still need to purchase the wellness membership for reimbursement on any preventative dental care, but you won't need to purchase a specific dental add-on package to treat gingivitis.

What Embrace Pet Insurance Doesn't Cover

Pre-Existing Conditions

Like most pet insurance companies, Embrace does not cover pre-existing conditions, which are any accident, condition, or illness that occurs before the policy starts or during the waiting period.

Note: If your pet already has an issue that affects one side of their body (like cataracts, luxating patellas, dysplasia, and cruciate ligaments), it's highly likely that eventually both sides of their body will be affected. Embrace considers bilateral conditions as pre-existing ones, and will not provide coverage for the other side.

However, Embrace does provide coverage for curable pre-existing conditions. If your pet:

• Has been diagnosed or experienced symptoms of a curable pre-existing condition before your policy started, but
• Remains symptom-free and treatment-free for a year,

Then Embrace will re-evaluate whether they will instate that condition if it returns in the future.

Embrace mentions several pre-existing conditions that are considered incurable. If your pet has been diagnosed with one of these conditions, treatments for it will not be covered under your policy:

• Bone and joint issues
• Cancer
• Lipomas
• Urinary or bladder crystals or blockages
• Chronic conditions, including allergies, diabetes, and hyper- or hypothyroidism.

Waiting Periods With Embrace Pet Insurance

Embrace stands out by offering immediate coverage for accidents; if your pet gets into an accident on the date your policy starts, you're covered.

For most illnesses and conditions, Embrace uses a standard 14-day waiting period. Coverage will start to take effect 14 days after your policy's start date for non-orthopedic-related conditions and illnesses.

For orthopedic conditions (conditions that impact bones, muscles, joints, and nerves), Embrace has a 14-day waiting period for cats, and offers different waiting periods for dogs, based on the state and specific condition.

Orthopedic Waiting Periods For Dogs

• CA, LA, NH, PA, WA: a 30-day waiting period for intervertebral disk disease (IVDD), cruciate ligament injury, patellar luxation, canine hip dysplasia, and orthopedic accidents. A 14-day waiting period for orthopedic conditions.
• AR, CO, CT, GA, KS, MA, MN, NV, NM, NY, NC, SC, SD, VT, VA: a six-month waiting period for orthopedic conditions (that can be reduced with an orthopedic report card from your vet after you purchase a policy) and orthopedic accidents.
• AL, AK, AZ, DC, DE, FL, HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, KY, ME, MD, MI, MS, MO, MT, NE, NJ, ND, OH, OK, OR, RI, TN, TX, UT, WV, WI, WY: a 180-day waiting period for intervertebral disk disease (IVDD), cruciate ligament injury, patellar luxation, and canine hip dysplasia, and orthopedic accidents. A 14-day waiting period for orthopedic conditions.

Other Exclusions

In addition to pre-existing conditions, Embrace's full coverage policy has a few conditions and services that are not covered. These vary by state and can include:

• Treatments related to pre-existing behavioral problems.
• Alternative treatments;
• More than the first anesthetic removal of an ingested foreign body in one policy term;
• Cosmetic and elective procedures, including declawing and ear cropping
• Breeding, pregnancy, whelping, or nursing
• Boarding fees

Additionally, preventative care treatments (including wellness exams, diagnostics, and vaccinations) are only covered in the Wellness Rewards add-on membership.

Embrace Pet Insurance's Accident-Only Plan

Embrace offers an accident-only policy for pets who may not otherwise qualify for a pet insurance policy. If you're looking at starting a new pet insurance plan for your elderly pet (aged 15 years or older), or if your pet already has an incurable pre-existing condition, traditional pet insurance plans might be too expensive.

Accident-Only Plans Mean Limited Coverage

Accident-only coverage provides peace of mind that if your pet gets into an accident (or simply eats something weird), you can get help paying for their veterinary treatments. However, Embrace's accident-only plan does not cover:

• Illnesses;
• Chronic Conditions;
• Cancer;
• Breed-specific, congenital, or genetic conditions; and Dental Illness

You can also add on Embrace's Wellness Rewards program to receive separate benefits for routine and preventative care.

One Policy Option

With the accident-only policy, you do not get to choose a specific deductible, reimbursement rate, or annual limit. These are set at:

• Deductible: $100
• Reimbursement Rate: 90%
• Maximum Annual Limit: $5,000

There's good news about this standardized plan: if your pet does get into an accident, you'll start to see benefits right away with a small $100 deductible.

Embrace Pet Insurance's Wellness Rewards Membership

Embrace's Wellness Rewards plan offers a way for you to spread out the cost of your pet's preventative veterinary healthcare over the course of a whole year–with a small bonus for going through Embrace.

Signing up for one of Embrace's Wellness Rewards tiers gives you access to an annual wellness benefit of either $300, $500, or $700. That benefit can be used to reimburse you for common preventative and routine veterinary services starting on day one of the plan, such as:

• Wellness exams, vaccinations, and parasite prevention
• Blood and fecal tests
• Spay/neuter procedures
• Preventative dental cleaning
• Grooming, medicated shampoos, toenail trimming, and training
• Alternative treatments, nutritional supplements, and prescription diet food.

The Wellness Rewards plan works differently than Embrace's pet insurance plans. If you choose the $300 tier (for example), you gain access to $300 worth of benefits, in exchange for paying Embrace an additional $275 per year. So why sign up?

1. For all three tiers, Embrace chips in $25 towards your pet's preventative care. So the $300 wellness tier only costs you $275, the $500 tier costs you $475, and the $700 tier costs you $675.
2. The annual fee gets paid over 12 months–not as a single lump sum–which can make it easier to budget for veterinary expenses.

Since benefits don't roll over from year to year, Embrace recommends choosing a plan amount that's what you will "realistically use in a year." And if you don't spend $275 on preventative care in a year? Consider skipping this add-on.