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. 2020 Jul 9;10(7):1162.
doi: 10.3390/ani10071162.

The Impact of Pet Health Insurance on Dog Owners' Spending for Veterinary Services

Angelica Williams  1 , Brian Williams  2 , Charlotte R Hansen  3 , Keith H Coble  4
Affiliations

The Impact of Pet Health Insurance on Dog Owners' Spending for Veterinary Services

Angelica Williams et al. Animals (Basel). .

Abstract

The U.S. pet population is increasing, but access to veterinary care continues to be a concern. One method of alleviating barriers that prevent access to care is the presence of pet health insurance for a pet. Dog owners were surveyed to see the impact of pet health insurance on dog owners' visits and expenditures at the veterinarian. Using several logit models, it was found that pet health insurance had a significant and positive impact on the amount spent at the veterinarian. Other dog and dog owner characteristics were found significant in impacting expenditures and visits at the veterinarian. Findings from this study can help address the accessibility issue facing Americans across the country in obtaining affordable pet care. This research is the first which seeks to identify the driving factors behind dog owners' choices regarding health care for their dogs.

Keywords: OLS; access to care; multinomial logistic regression; negative binomial regression; pet health insurance; pet ownership.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Total veterinary expenditures per pet owner per year.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Total veterinary visits per pet owner per year.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Where the dog sleeps at night: The majority of pet owners allow their pet to sleep in the bedroom.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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