Embrace Pre-existing Condition Guidelines
There are really two types of pre-existing condition: those that will eventually heal, like a broken leg, and those that may never be cured, like diabetes or Addison's disease.
Temporary Pre-existing Conditions
Our philosophy on pre-existing conditions that will eventually heal is to exclude these conditions temporarily during the first year of your pet's policy. During your first year any treatment that is for a pre-existing condition will not be covered but, if your pet remains clear of this condition during the first policy year, the exclusion will be removed for the second and subsequent years.
Permanent Pre-existing Conditions
Pre-existing conditions that are not curable will be excluded permanently from your policy but coverage remains for all other conditions.
For example, if your dog is diagnosed with Addison's disease on March 1st and you purchase a pet insurance policy for him on April 22nd, Embrace will permanently exclude anything related to the Addison's disease. But your dog would continue to be covered for everything else.
Examples of How Embrace Handles Pre-existing Conditions
Assume you just purchased an Embrace Pet Insurance policy for your dog. Let's see some examples to show how your policy would handle pre-existing conditions.
Previous Ear Infection
Your dog had a single episode of an ear infection last year but the veterinarian says the infection is now cured and not related to allergies. In this case, your dog's ear infection would be a pre-existing condition for this policy year only, assuming he doesn't have another ear infection this year. If he does have another ear infection this policy year, it continues to be a pre-existing condition next year until the dog is free of ear infections for a full policy year.
If the ear infection is related to allergies then neither the ear infection nor any other clinical signs of allergies (such as foot chewing, skin infections, or hot spots) will be covered.
Kidney Disease in Remission
Your cat had kidney disease three years ago that required treatment but since then has been fine. You can get pet insurance and it will cover everything else but it won't cover the pre-existing kidney condition going forward because it is a chronic condition that cannot be cured.
Prior Broken Leg
Your dog broke her leg last year before you bought your insurance policy. The dog gets a complication with last year's broken bone this year. This complication is considered a pre-existing condition and is not covered going forward, much like any future complication of the original broken leg. If your dog broke the other leg this year, it would be covered as it's not related to the old injury.