Pet Medical Insurance Provider Trupanion Enables Payment at Checkout

Pet medical insurance provider Trupanion says its vet portal can now process a member’s invoice at a hospital in five seconds.

This fast, automated invoice processing enables direct payments to veterinary hospitals at the time of checkout, Trupanion said in a Wednesday (Aug. 9) press release.

“By removing upfront payments and using AI [artificial intelligence] to eliminate cumbersome paperwork and wait times, pet parents can more easily say ‘yes’ to the treatment their pet needs, regardless of cost,” Trupanion President Margi Tooth said in the release. “In turn, this removes barriers to care and empowers veterinary professionals to practice their best medicine, unhindered by financial constraints.”

Trupanion’s AI-based vet portal provides solutions to traditionally encumbering issues within the pet health care industry, according to the press release. By automating over 60% of the invoices submitted through its web-based portal, Trupanion is able to provide fast processing and accuracy.

Since its inception in 1999, Trupanion has paid over $2.2 billion dollars directly to veterinary hospitals on behalf of its members, the release said. It currently has more than 900,000 pets enrolled in the United States, Canada and Australia.

“Trupanion, through Vet Direct Pay, is the first and only pet insurer that can pay a bill directly to the veterinary hospital at time of checkout,” Trupanion Vice President of Claims Jacquie Mero said in the release. “As many pet parents can’t afford to pay the full cost of treatment out of pocket and wait for reimbursement, our ability to pay hospitals directly in real-time can often mean the difference between a pet receiving the treatment they need or leaving without care.”

PYMNTS research has found that 23% of consumers would want their insurance claims to be paid instantly, should that option be on offer.

For payers/insurers, there’s an option to monetize speed, as 45% of consumers would be willing to pay a fee in order to get an instant health insurance payout, according to “Insurance Disbursements Brief 2022,” a PYMNTS and Ingo Money collaboration.

The report found that healthcare payments and life insurance payments are among disbursements made as instant payments most often, but there is still room for improvement. Paper checks and even cash are still use for about a quarter of healthcare claim payouts and 15% of life insurance claims paid to holders.