AVMA welcomes return of health planJuly 5, 2019Following a hiatus of approximately five years, the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) has announced the return of an employer-based health insurance program for its members.
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Five trends in pet medical insuranceApril 3, 2019The human-animal bond is evolving, and pet parents want their canine and feline family members to live longer, healthier lives. As human life expectancy and quality increase, we want our loyal companions with us well into their/our senior years, because, let's face it, those years come far too soon. Veterinary medicine, in parallel with human medicine, has advanced leaps and bounds over the years. As a result, veterinarians can now routinely detect and treat disease before clinical signs of illness ever appear. Pet parents are expecting and demanding their pets are treated as family. But more often than not, budgeting is problematic. With human-quality medicine comes the cost of care for advanced, though, routinely available diagnostics, such as digital X-rays, ultrasound, and blood chemistry analysis. Yet, six out of 10 Americans don't have $500 in savings for an unplanned expense.1 The widespread budgeting challenge became even more evident for federal workers (including veterinarians) with the government shutdown earlier this year. Many pet owners and veterinarians are quickly realizing quality medical insurance can help fill the financial gap so their pets can have access to the treatments recommended by their trusted family veterinarian. Yet, just as the human-animal bond is evolving, …
AVMA health insurance in limbo following court rulingApril 2, 2019The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) is not backing away on its promise to deliver health insurance plans to its members following a ruling by a federal district court judge. Last week, the judge sent a recent rule allowing association health plans back to the Department of Labor to revisit certain aspects of it the court found objectionable. "We are disappointed, obviously, but we knew this was a possibility, and we know this isn't the final word," says AVMA president, John de Jong, DVM. "Veterinarians across the country were very pleased the AVMA was poised to again sponsor health plans, and we're not giving up on that effort. We are evaluating all our options, and we will continue to advocate for the interests of veterinarians, including access to high-quality, affordable health plans through our association." Association-sponsored health insurance plans were part of membership in AVMA for 60 years until the Affordable Care Act (ACA) forced it to end in 2013. While aware of the potential legal challenges, AVMA decided to move forward in its efforts to once again offer its members a health insurance program beginning in several states in July.
AVMA LIFE Trust to return in 2019January 14, 2019The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) will once more offer health insurance to members.
AVMA LIFE Insurance expected to resume following new federal ruleOctober 16, 2018The American Veterinary Medical Association's (AVMA) AVMA LIFE Insurance is working to resume offering health insurance to association members, once the association has dealt with complicated federal and state regulations.
