Pet Insurance in Maine: Costs Under the 2023 Pet Insurance Act

Maine has had a pet insurance statute since the start of 2023. The Pet Insurance Act, chapter 44 of Title 24-A, took effect on January 1 of that year, so the waiting period and renewal rules here have been settled law for nearly four years. Premiums run below the national average, there’s no veterinary college in the state, and the Maine CDC counts about 14 tick species. A settled law, a long referral drive, and a tick season that tests the illness clause: that’s the Maine buying decision.

Maine’s premiums sit below the national average

NAPHIA’s industry data gives the 2025 national baseline: $836 a year for a dog on accident-and-illness cover, about $70 a month, and $435 a year for a cat, about $36 a month, after increases of 11.5% and 12.6%. The statistics page has the five-year series.

Maine holds 0.6% of insured US pets and 0.5% of US written premium. When the premium share falls short of the pet share, the average insured pet costs less to cover than the national figure, so per NAPHIA’s distribution data, average premiums in Maine run below the national average. Its neighbours go the other way: New Hampshire and Massachusetts both run above it. NAPHIA publishes no Maine dollar figure, and we won’t estimate one.

Inside the state, the quote follows the ZIP code. Insurers rate by location because vet fees differ by location, so a Portland quote and a quote from Aroostook County for the same pet won’t match. The cost calculator takes a ZIP, and how much pet insurance costs explains which settings move the number.

What Maine’s Pet Insurance Act has required since January 1, 2023

As of October 2026, the NAIC’s Summer 2026 tracker lists Maine as a “model adoption” state. The law is the Pet Insurance Act, 24-A M.R.S. sections 3151 to 3161, and section 3161 says the chapter takes effect January 1, 2023.

Under section 3156, a Maine policy must meet these terms:

• A waiting period may not exceed 30 days for an illness or orthopedic condition not resulting from an accident. A waiting period for an illness or orthopedic condition that results from an accident is prohibited, and no waiting period may be imposed on the renewal of existing coverage.
• The policy must allow the waiting period to be waived on completion of a medical examination. The insurer may require a licensed veterinarian to perform it after purchase, and the policyholder pays for it unless the policy says the insurer will.
• The insurer may not require a veterinary examination for renewal, and a condition the policy covers may not be considered pre-existing on any renewal.
• The insurer has the burden of proving that a pre-existing condition exclusion applies to the condition in the claim.

The exam that waives the wait also produces a record, and anything noted in it before coverage starts can be excluded as pre-existing; the pre-existing conditions guide explains that review. The waiting period guide shows what the same clauses look like in states with no cap.

Maine’s 15-day free look and the exclusions chapter 44 leaves alone

Section 3155 gives a buyer 15 days: return the policy within 15 days of receiving it and the premium is refunded within 30 days, unless a claim has already been filed. That’s half the 30 days New Hampshire allows, so read the Maine policy in the first two weeks, not the first month. The same section requires an “Insurer Disclosure of Important Policy Provisions” document in at least 12-point type, with the Bureau of Insurance’s address and toll-free number in boldface.

What the chapter doesn’t do is just as important. Section 3154 says the chapter does not limit or prohibit the types of exclusions an insurer may use, so hereditary wording, bilateral clauses, exam fees, and prescription food can all still be excluded if the Maine form says so; what pet insurance doesn’t cover lists the usual ones. Nothing in the sections we read caps premiums or renewal increases either. Complaints about an insurer go to the Maine Bureau of Insurance at maine.gov/pfr/insurance.

Deer ticks, dog ticks, and the illness wait in Maine

The Maine CDC says about 14 tick species live in Maine, that the two most common seen are the deer tick and the American dog tick, and that deer ticks in Maine can carry the germs that cause anaplasmosis, babesiosis, Lyme disease, and Powassan virus. The American dog tick spreads Rocky Mountain spotted fever and tularemia elsewhere in the country, but the Maine CDC says it isn’t known to spread them in Maine. The University of Maine Cooperative Extension’s Tick Lab identifies and tests ticks that residents send in and publishes infection rates by town.

For a dog, Lyme and anaplasmosis are illness claims, so accident-only cover pays nothing toward them, and the illness wait, capped at 30 days here, has to have run first. Say a dog is enrolled on April 1: an infection found in June falls after the wait on any Maine form. The diagnostic panel, the antibiotics, and any follow-up are then a standard claim on most accident-and-illness policies, if the diagnosis came after enrollment. Does pet insurance cover Lyme disease goes through the claim and the problem of a positive screen already on file. Tick preventives and the Lyme vaccine are routine care; does pet insurance cover vaccinations covers whether a wellness add-on pays for itself.

No veterinary college in Maine: referrals cross the state line

Maine has no AVMA-accredited veterinary college, so a case that needs a teaching hospital’s surgeon, oncologist, or neurologist goes out of state. For the policy, that changes nothing: none of the insurers we’ve reviewed publishes a provider network, so the out-of-state bill is claimed like one from your local practice, and does pet insurance work out of state covers the paperwork.

What the referral does test is the annual limit, which chapter 44 doesn’t touch. You pay the hospital, file, and get reimbursed after the deductible at your chosen rate, and the reimbursement calculator shows what a given bill pays back at different caps. Conditions on record before enrollment stay excluded as pre-existing, even though the insurer now has to prove it, so enrolling while the record is short is still the biggest lever on both coverage and price. How to switch pet insurance explains what a new insurer reads as pre-existing if you move at renewal.

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.