Cancer coverage

What's typically covered

• Diagnostics — imaging, bloodwork, biopsies and histopathology
• Surgery to remove tumours
• Chemotherapy and radiation, on most accident and illness plans
• Specialist referral to an oncologist
• Hospitalisation and supportive care
• Prescription medications, on most plans

Where the plan is tested

A cancer course can span a year and involve a specialist practice. That's exactly the shape of claim an annual limit was written for.

Check three things: the annual limit, whether any per-condition limit applies, and whether a per-condition limit resets each year or caps the condition for the pet's lifetime. A per-condition lifetime cap is the one that fails you mid-treatment.

The pre-existing edge

A lump noted in the records before coverage started, or during a waiting period, will generally make the resulting diagnosis pre-existing and excluded — even if nobody named it at the time.

This is why enrolling before anything appears matters far more than which plan you pick. Once a sign is in the records, no amount of shopping fixes it.

Continuation at renewal

Ask directly: if my pet is diagnosed this year, will treatment still be covered at renewal and the year after?

Most reputable plans continue coverage. A plan that treats each policy year as a new contract, making last year's diagnosis pre-existing, is close to useless here — and that's the question worth getting in writing.

The costs that fall outside

• Exam and consultation fees, excluded by many plans
• Specialist consultation fees, which are usually higher
• Travel to a referral practice
• Prescription diets, unless specifically covered
• Anything above the annual or per-condition limit