Why the American Animal Hospital Association recommends Pawlicy Advisor for pet insurance. As AAHA's Preferred Business Provider for pet insurance since 2022, Pawlicy has helped over 1 million pet owners understand which pet insurance options best fit their pet. Published Aug 12, 2026 Sponsored content by Pawlicy Advisor Pawlicy Advisor, a licensed pet insurance marketplace, is recommended by the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) as its Preferred Business Provider for pet insurance. For a question veterinary teams get asked every week - "Which pet insurance should I get?" - AAHA points veterinary practices to an independent advisor rather than a single insurer. The reasoning behind that choice applies inside the exam room too. The recommendation veterinary teams are asked to make. Pet owners trust their veterinary team more than any other voice on pet insurance, so the question falls on your staff whether they're prepared for it or not. According to the AAHA/Pawlicy Advisor State of the Industry report, 84.4% of veterinary professionals adjust recommended treatment plans weekly because of client cost concerns. Pet health insurance is a key tool that can relieve that pressure, and clients don't want to choose the wrong plan and risk feeling scammed. Answering with a carrier name is usually a gut reaction. It is also the one most practices are least equipped to stand behind. More than two dozen pet insurance companies operate in North America, and their premiums and underwriting rules change constantly. Average monthly premiums alone span $26.21 to $50.01 for cats and $38.20 to $73.06 for dogs across top companies, before breed, age, ZIP code, or deductible enter the picture. The carrier that paid a colleague's claim last quarter can deny the next client's claim over an exclusion in the fine print. There is a licensing problem as well. In most states, steering a client toward a specific insurance carrier can be construed as soliciting insurance, which requires a property and casualty license that fewer than 1% of veterinary professionals hold. When asked directly, 80.3% of veterinary professionals say they are not comfortable recommending one specific provider given the legal risks of not having an insurance license. Why AAHA recommends an independent advisor instead of a single insurer. AAHA faced the same choice every practice faces but at an industry scale-and AAHA's brand is built on providing trustworthy, objective guidance for the good of the veterinary industry. The problem is that no single insurer is the right answer for every pet. A plan that fits a young Labrador in Ohio can be a poor fit for a senior cat in California with a pre-existing condition - and if a mismatch surfaces at claim time, the blame can travel back up the chain of recommendations to the practice. Insurance pricing changes, exclusions are rewritten, and carriers enter and exit states. Very few can credibly re-evaluate the market on every underwriting cycle. And it shouldn't be up to the veterinary profession to do so. Pawlicy Advisor is AAHA's Preferred Business Provider for pet insurance in part because Pawlicy is a licensed insurance marketplace and brokerage, not an insurer. It doesn't underwrite policies and it isn't owned by anyone who does. Its job is to compare plans across the market against each pet's breed, age, location, and the family's budget, and match the client to coverage that holds up when they need it. The comparison runs fresh for every pet, so the recommendation doesn't go stale. And, because Pawlicy Advisor is licensed to give insurance advice, vet teams can avoid the liability of recommending the wrong plan. Veterinary medicine already runs on this structure too. For example, when a case is outside a practice's scope, the team refers it to someone credentialed for it. Insurance selection is its own licensed profession whose intricacies in underwriting and comparison are far removed from veterinary medicine. AAHA's recommendation of Pawlicy Advisor gives veterinary practices an easy referral path. What the referral returns to veterinary practices. 92% of veterinary professionals agree that the right pet insurance helps clients say "yes" to care. A client who bought the wrong policy still hesitates at the treatment plan and remembers who pointed them to it. Practices that refer clients to a comparison tool or marketplace get the upside without the exposure. Clients get real, individualized guidance, rather than anecdotes. Staff answer the insurance question in ten seconds: "We recommend pet owners consider pet insurance, here's a great resource that can help you find the right one." This way, the practice's credibility never gets spent on a policy nobody on staff could fully vet. The strongest pet insurance recommendation available to a veterinary practice today is the same one the American Animal Hospital Association itself makes: not a carrier, but Pawlicy Advisor - an independent, licensed marketplace built to help pet owners find the right coverage. Veterinary practices can see how the referral works and get client-facing materials for the front desk at pawlicy.com/vet.

Houstonaecne has also partnered with Pawlicy Advisor to help its clients compare pet insurance options.