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Now what about vets
requiring payment up front before treating? Humans
have health insurance companies to deal with this
stuff. (Those without insurance are often denied
treatment at private hospitals. It is not uncommon
to see public hospitals go under because people do
not pay their bills.) Veterinary pet insurance is
not all it is cracked up to be after reading the
fine print. For every patient that walks out and
leaves a bill unpaid, the cost has to be passed on
to the other patients. If not, the clinic would
not be able to operate.
Let's look at a
human example. My husband works for a human
reproduction clinic. All self-pay patients
(insurance does not cover the procedure) must pay
up front. Why? Think of the financial losses
if the self-pays did not pay up front and had to
be sometimes forced into paying. It is not
uncommon for a single cycle to run $8-$10,000. A
clinic could be forced to close due to lack of
payment. The clinic could not afford to pay staff
or their operating costs. Same thing for
veterinary clinics: enough debt from people
not paying, the greater the risk of the clinic
closing or having to boost fees for other clients.
I have heard horror stories from more than one vet
about clients promising to pay a bill after
treatment and then not paying at all. Even the
small stuff adds up to thousands of dollars over a
fiscal year. Most vets I know do not like
having to do this – force payment or at least
partial up front or sometime having to refuse
treatment. But remember, it costs to run a clinic.
People do not work for free. Equipment and
maintenance is not free. Clinics have buy
all the supplies used to treat your pet.
So, when you
complain about a vet bill, please stop and think.
It is very expensive to run a clinic. It is very
expensive to bring in the newest technology to
better treat pets. Even once a piece of equipment
is paid for, there can still be thousands of
dollars a year in maintenance agreements to keep
the machine running. Every time a person does not
pay a bill, your bills may go up. So, now
you know why your vet charges what he/she does!
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