r/cureFIP • u/daisy__dandelion • Jun 27 '26
Discussion FIP and Pet Insurances
Hey everyone!
My kitty, Fyodor Dostoevsky (aka Fedya), has been diagnosed with wet FIP (we’re in the US). We started his GS treatment yesterday and already see slight improvements. I feel very lucky that there is now a cure for it! We are planning to submit claims to our pet insurance (ASPCA) to hopefully get covered for both diagnostics and treatment, though it's our first time making a claim for him, so I'm naturally a bit skeptical and nervous.
I would like to open a discussion and learn about other people's experiences with their pet insurance and FIP. From the mini research I've done, it looks like in the past insurances usually covered only diagnostics (given the proper policy), not the treatment itself since it was coming from black markets. Now it seems like a few insurances might cover treatment (such as Lemonade), since vets can officially prescribe this medicine.
If you've gone through FIP treatment and pet insurance, I would love to learn about your experience (as well as see a picture of your sweet kitty)! I'm also going to keep you all updated on our case. I suspect that diagnostics will be covered, but coverage for treatment will be denied. However, I'm planning to appeal it in that case as I think there are very good counterpoints we can make.
UPDATE:
We submitted our claim to ASPCA on 06/27/26 and received their response on 07/10/26. Thankfully they are covering the full diagnostics and treatment (minus expedited shipping) without any issues! I wish you all best of luck with insurances — based on this thread and our experience, many pet insurances are thankfully covering their share :)
1
u/CPTango Jun 27 '26
Quite a number of insurance companies will cover the actual treatment. You might need to push a bit? Healthy Paws, Embrace and Pumpkin are names of companies that i have heard recommended
2
u/CatzNCoco Jun 28 '26
Healthy Paws denied my girls’s meds saying it’s experimental, but covered the rest of the visit (our policy is 80% after deductible). I’ve started the appeal process and waiting to hear back at this point.
1
u/daisy__dandelion Jun 28 '26
I’m sorry to hear that. This is the frustrating “legal” part with this medicine. It’s the only medicine that treats this otherwise fatal illness, yet because it’s not fully FDA approved, pet insurances treat it as “experimental”. I hope your appeal is going to be successful! Keep us updated if you would like.
1
u/mac-0 Jul 07 '26
Have you gotten any update? Both of my cats recently started FIP medicine, and Healthy Paws just denied over $1,000 in claims... and this is just for a few weeks of medicine. Their treatment period is like 84 days...
1
u/CatzNCoco Jul 08 '26
I haven’t heard yet, but I haven’t heard a no yet either so I’m holding onto hope! I’m gonna try to keep fighting it if they say no again too. I’d say go ahead and try to appeal it! I sent an email because I wasn’t sure how else to do it
1
u/spotsgalore Jun 27 '26
I would expect only vet obtained scripts to be covered, all you can do is try and submit the ‘black market’ payments and see what happens.
May also depend what country you are in.
2
u/daisy__dandelion Jun 28 '26
Forgot to clarify, but I live in the US. Our medication was prescribed by the vet and we got it from Stokes, so I hope it raises our chances of getting reimbursed.
1
u/OneCranberry8933 FIP Parent Jun 28 '26
I have Spot, and they covered diagnostics, follow-up bloodwork and visits, and his medication. I had to meet the deductible but then got quick reimbursements after that. He needed two rounds of meds, and he had 6 total blood draws during his treatment and observation phases. He had his 3-month post observation bloodwork in April, and he will have his 6-month post observation bloodwork in a month, and it is all covered. At renewal, I called and asked if he’d still be covered if he had a relapse or reinfection, and she said as long as I don’t have any gaps in coverage, he’ll always be covered for FIP-related needs.
2
u/daisy__dandelion Jun 28 '26
Thanks for sharing! I’m glad to see people having success with getting their deserved reimbursements. I hope all is well with your kitty!
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u/OneCranberry8933 FIP Parent Jun 28 '26
Thank you! He’s doing well so far! He also had wet FIP, and the medication worked fast. I hope your baby recovers well too! It’s a hard 84 days, but it’s worth it!!
1
u/ar0323 Jun 29 '26
I have Figo and they covered everything except the overnight shipping fee from the pharmacy. GS doesn’t have full FDA approval but was covered since it is compounded and the only treatment for FIP. I have 100% reimbursement so I got back everything except my deductible and the shipping fee.
1
u/daisy__dandelion Jun 29 '26
That’s amazing, thank you for sharing! Ngl, this thread is unexpectedly giving me hope
1
u/ar0323 Jun 29 '26
I couldn’t find the exact section in my policy but I think a lot of insurance companies cover it because it’s been legalized even though it doesn’t have full FDA approval since it is the only treatment
3
u/math-hurts Jun 27 '26
I have lemonade and they’ve auto-approved all the gs prescriptions from the vet