[nagdu] pet insurances

Sat Sep 3 15:03:24 UTC 2011

Hi tatyana:

Cheryl Echevarria here, I am from NY, very involved with all aspects of NFB, 
NAGDU being one of the them.

I have my first guide dog Maxx, from the Guide Dog Foundation of Smithtown, 
it is about a 5 minute drive from me, maybe 10.

Anyway, as you can read I own my own travel agency, but I am also a medical 
insurance professional.

When it comes to people like Steve said, the hospitals with or without 
insurance must take you, if you do not have insurance, the social workers at 
that hospital will see if you qualify for state or government services, and 
then they will bill you if not, and you produce these bills to the lawyers, 
and they will take care of it.

In the case of our dogs, take them to the dog hospitals, the vets will 
hopefully work with you, or at least should especially in this situation, 
they can recommend alternatives, and if you know the people that did this to 
your dog, then send them the bill, let them take it to there lawyers and 
explain why there dog attacked a guide dog.

Also send one to someone who is going to represent yourself.

Just my own 2 cents.

Leading the Way in Independent Travel!

Cheryl Echevarria
http://www.echevarriatravel.com
631-456-5394
reservations at echevarriatravel.com

Affiliated as an Independent Contractor with Superior Travel, located in 
Baldwin, NY. www.superiortravel.com

Affiliated as an Independent Contractor with Absolute Cruise & Travel, Inc.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steven Johnson" <blinddog3 at charter.net>
To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, September 03, 2011 10:55 AM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] pet insurances

> Hi Tatyana,
> I have not yet introduced myself.  I am Steve and I live in Wisconsin and 
> am
> working my 3rd dog guide of which all 3 have been black labs.  To answer
> your question, Emergency rooms in the U.S have to, by law treat persons 
> who
> come through their doors.  However, the expense would essentially at that
> point be on the individual.  This is where a lawsuit would potentially 
> come
> into play against the owner of the dog who attacked.  This still 
> reiterates
> the reason the President Marion pointed out why interference and 
> harassment
> laws are so important in each state.
>
> Steve
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Tatyana
> Sent: Saturday, September 03, 2011 9:48 AM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] pet insurances
>
> Hi,
> What would  happen if the pit bull  attacked a human, and he or she needs
> urgent care or surgery and she or he does not have a medical insurance. 
> And
> the pit bull's owner, who is supposed  to be responsible  for an expanse
> does not  have immediate money too.
>
> > Hi, Cheryl,
> > Although there are Pet Insurance plans for dogs, there are times when 
> > it's
> > not even worth it, especially when the dog has a pre-existing illness
> > which Odie already has since it's respiratory related.
> > Although there may not be plans in each state probably, a person could
> > still use a ATM bank card to have the insurance money come out of the
> > count such as $35.00 on a monthly basis.
> > I know that when I've gone to my search engine, I did research on pet
> > insurances and depending on which one would suit your needs, some do 
> > offer
> > a discount for guide dog users.
> > One question I asked one time when speaking to a pet insurance company 
> > was
> > if they'd cover the cost for a pet ambulance if one exist in a state 
> > that
> > a guide dog handler lives in.
> > Their answer was, "What is a pet ambulance?"
> > Sad thing is not too many states will have a pet ambulance service at 
> > all
> > and then the handler is stuck with having to utilize a taxi cab company 
> > to
> > transport the dog to an emergency vet.
> > User is then stuck with having to pay for the transportation part 
> > because
> > pet insurance won't even pay nor cover it.
> > Only states that I know of so far who do have a pet ambulance program is
> > in Phoenix, Arizona and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
> > Here in Colorado, we used to have it, but that wend down under and out 
> > of
> > business.
> > I actually experienced a rough task one time of having to rush Odie to
> > University Hills Animal Hospital during February, 2006.
> > I had no one to help me on hand to get him there immediately as he was
> > really ill and vomiting continuously.
> > We ended up taking public transportation to get to the vet.
> > Misfortune struck on the way there when he threw up on the floor of the
> > bus while riding the former route89X to get me over to the Southmore
> > Transfer Station during that time upon making another connection that
> > would get me close enough to the vet.
> > It was an embarrassing experience of Odie vomiting on the bus.
> > Luckily, some passengers were very kind and offered to help me clean up
> > the mess as I had a roll of paper towels on me.
> > Bus driver told us just to cover it up and leave it as he'd already 
> > called
> > into dispatch for a bus trade.
> > When Odie and I borded on to the bus, I was considerate enough to warn 
> > the
> > driver that my boy wasn't feeling good.
> > Driver and passengers all took it with stride.
> > I not only felt bad, but also felt as if I ruined everyone's appetites 
> > for
> > the evening along with their day.
> > Bus driver nor passengers weren't upset and felt glad that they could 
> > try
> > to help out.
> > Odie also felt embarrased and sad for making a mess.
> > The next time he ended up having to go to the vet when he felt ill 
> > again,
> > I was able to get someone to help me get him down there.
> > My hopes are that as long as I continue to be a dog user, I'd rather not
> > have to go through what I did when it came to doing public 
> > transportation.
> > Bibi and Odie
> > the happy spirited bounty labra wolf
> >
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