Does Pet Insurance Cover Hip Replacement and FHO Surgery?
A hip replacement is the most expensive thing that can happen to a dog’s hip, and the insurance question people ask about it is really a question about the condition underneath. The policies we’ve read have no hip replacement clause. It has a hereditary clause, an orthopedic waiting period, a pre-existing review, and an annual limit, and the four of them decide whether the implant is paid.
A hip replacement is a hip dysplasia claim, or a fracture claim
Two roads lead to the operating table. The common one is hip dysplasia, the inherited loose-fitting joint that wears into arthritis; the other is trauma, a pelvis or femoral head fractured in a fall or a car accident. The policy reads them differently. Hip dysplasia is hereditary, so at insurers with a hereditary and congenital clause it can fall under that clause, and the hip dysplasia guide covers the clause insurer by insurer: Embrace covers genetic and congenital conditions with no rider, and Pets Best, ASPCA, Spot, Trupanion, and Healthy Paws cover hereditary and congenital conditions if they aren’t pre-existing. A fracture is an accident claim, with the short accident wait, and the broken bones guide covers that road.
Either way the surgery is paid as treatment of a covered condition, not as a line of its own. So the first question is never “is hip replacement covered”. It’s “is this dog’s hip condition covered on this policy”, and the answer depends on what was in the record and when the policy started.
Total hip replacement versus FHO: what the claim contains
Total hip replacement replaces the ball and socket with an implant. It’s specialist surgery at a referral hospital, with pre-surgical imaging, the implant, a hospital stay, and rechecks with X-rays over the following months. Femoral head ostectomy removes the ball of the joint and lets scar tissue form a false joint; vets often choose it for smaller dogs and for cats, and it’s simpler surgery with a longer rehab emphasis. Some dogs need both hips done.
On a covered claim, every part of that chain is eligible: the consult, the imaging, the operation, the stay, the medication, and the rechecks, reimbursed at your percentage after the deductible. Two insurer lines matter here. Figo states that its reimbursement percentage isn’t reduced at specialist or emergency hospitals, which is where a hip replacement happens; does pet insurance cover specialist visits covers the referral-hospital rules. And the exam fee for each visit follows its usual split, excluded at Trupanion and Healthy Paws, an add-on at Lemonade and Embrace, included in most Pets Best plans, a Powerup at Figo, included at ASPCA and Spot.
The annual limit is the number that decides a hip replacement
A hip replacement is the kind of single, large bill that outruns a cap. The policy pays its percentage until the annual limit is reached and then stops, and a dog that needs the second hip done in the same policy year hits the cap twice. Limits differ by insurer: Trupanion sells a plan with no annual or lifetime payout cap at all; Healthy Paws offers $5,000, $7,000, or unlimited and says the limit can never be raised later; Lemonade runs from $5,000 to $100,000; Pets Best from $5,000 to unlimited; ASPCA and Spot from $2,500 to unlimited. For a breed with known hip risk, pick the highest limit you can and save on the premium through the deductible instead. What an annual limit is shows exactly where a cap bites, and per-condition versus annual limits explains why a per-condition cap is the wrong structure for a disease that may need two operations.
Enrollment age, orthopedic waits, and the hip that was already noted
Three timing rules sit between a diagnosis and a paid implant. The first is enrollment age at one insurer: Healthy Paws covers hip dysplasia only for pets enrolled under age six, with a 12-month wait for those enrolled at five or younger (30 days, waivable, in the model-act states), and excludes it for pets enrolled at six or older. A Labrador insured there at seven has no hip coverage, and so no hip replacement coverage, however clean the record.
The second is the orthopedic waiting period. Embrace runs six months for canine orthopedic conditions, cut to 14 days by an Orthopedic Report Card exam after purchase; Lemonade runs 30 days; Figo describes its six-month wait for cruciate and patella conditions and Pets Best its six-month wait for cruciate ligament events, so check how each defines a hip. In California, Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania the law caps non-accident orthopedic waits at 30 days and provides for a waiver after a vet exam. The waiting period guide has the full table.
The third is the record. Any hip sign before the effective date or during the wait is pre-existing, and for a hereditary joint disease that exclusion is permanent on the policies we’ve read; a “bunny-hopping gait, monitor” note at a puppy exam can be the sentence that turns a future hip replacement into your own bill. The curable rules at Lemonade, Spot, and Embrace carve out chronic conditions by name, and a hip that needs replacing is not a condition any insurer is likely to call cured.
Rehab after the implant and who pays for it
The surgery is half the claim. Weeks of controlled exercise, physical therapy, hydrotherapy, and rechecks follow, and whether that half is paid depends on the physical therapy clause. Pets Best includes physical therapy in most of its plans; Lemonade sells it as an add-on; Embrace covers complementary therapies for covered conditions at no extra charge. Does pet insurance cover physical therapy goes through the wordings. Book the policy before the puppy’s first limp, hold the limit high, and the implant and the rehab are one long claim rather than two bills you carry alone.
Frequently asked questions
Does pet insurance cover total hip replacement for dogs?
Yes, on a policy that covers the hip dysplasia or injury behind it. The implant surgery, the hospital stay, imaging, and rechecks are reimbursed at your rate after the deductible, up to the annual limit, which is why an unlimited or high limit matters for this operation.
Is FHO surgery covered by pet insurance?
On the same basis as a hip replacement: as treatment of a covered hip condition. A femoral head ostectomy is the operation often chosen for smaller dogs and cats, and the claim includes the surgery and the rehab that follows where the policy covers physical therapy.
Is there an age limit for hip replacement coverage?
Not for the surgery itself, but for the condition behind it at one insurer: Healthy Paws covers hip dysplasia only for pets enrolled before age six and excludes it for pets enrolled at six or older, so a hip replacement at that insurer depends on when the dog was enrolled.
Does pet insurance cover rehab after hip surgery?
At insurers whose policy covers physical therapy for a covered condition, yes: Pets Best includes it in most plans, Lemonade sells it as an add-on, and Embrace covers complementary therapies for covered conditions. Confirm the clause before you book the sessions.
This article is general information, not insurance or veterinary advice. Coverage, prices, and terms vary by insurer, pet, and location. Always read the policy and confirm details with the provider before buying.