No I'm not asking for legal advice, I'm more asking like where to start and what benefits it might offer my roommate.
Brownie is an awesome friendly dog, and I think he deserves the badge of emotional support animal. Question is, where to start?
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Again, airplane not necessary, my roommate ain't planning to fly anywhere.
I'm just curious to try to help him get qualified to purchase dog food from his health insurance card..
As someone who's fostered and trained both service dogs and ESAs, this is highly offensive. These designations are meant to help people with disabilities, not those who have financial needs. As others have already pointed out, abuse of the ESA designation has had serious negative impacts on service dog handlers. There are also many people out there with serious need for an ESA, and if others keep abusing this lax system for frivolous reasons, eventually rules are going to be in place that will inevitably hurt those with actual health needs.
If your roommate needs financial assistance feeding their dog, there are social services available to help with this. Many communities offer pet food pantries, and there are national charities available to assist with the financial strain of keeping animals in their homes. I can send a list if that's helpful.
Most dogs I know are wonderful and brighten even strangers' days just by being themselves. That doesn't make it okay to abuse safety nets put in place to help disabled people in order to make their care more affordable, though.
Oh come on now, it only costs about $4 to feed Brownie for an entire month. Roommate's previous insurance covered that no problem, so what's it hurt to ask advice on his behalf?
Geez, just trying to see if I can help an old fella save $4 a month.
Tell me you work for an insurance company without telling me you work for an insurance company...
That sounds like it's up to the insurance company. But, again, there is nothing in the way of being an emotional support animal that would compel it to be covered by insurance, so I wouldn't get your hopes up for it being covered. A service animal may be a different story.
I’m pretty sure you can’t even do that with traditional service dogs. I think vet and food expenses for a service dog can be deducted from taxes as a medical expense (not financial advice!) but not charged to human health insurance.
I do thank you for your advice, but I'm just not sure.
His previous healthcare provider allowed him to purchase dog food, but he switched providers and not sure if there's a proper solution to that this year..
I dunno, just trying to help my roommate ya know.
I don't have my hopes up, but I don't have my hopes down either. Just asking around ya know..
I don't know you or your roommate's current financial situation, but if they're struggling to buy dog food there may be assistance programs, perhaps not for the dog, but for his own expenses, that can free up money for the dog.
Oh it's not exactly a dire financial struggle, hell one big bag of dog food for him costs something like $8 a bag, and might last upwards of 2 months. And yes he has a dedicated airtight container to keep the food fresh.
Just looking and talking around to see what all, if any options he might have with his new health insurance provider to try to save a few dollars here and there.
Best I've gathered so far from comments here, I've already advised him to just talk to his doctors and perhaps his case manager next time he's got an appointment.
Wow only $8?? Last time I noticed dog food prices a few years ago, a bag that big would cost $50.
My roommate can't remember off the top of his head what brand of food it was, but he'll recognize it the next time he sees it in the store. It's just basically plain small dry kibble, we give it to him mixed about 50/50 with water once a day.
He keeps the food in a repurposed 5 gallon ice/water cooler, minus the ice or water, to keep it fresh. A fresh bag fills that up about 80℅, so basically ~4 gallons of dry kibble, for ~$8 ain't bad huh?
Hey man, if "my dog is loved by everyone " can be used as a cheat code for food covered with insurance, I don't think you'd need to use Lemmy to find answers.
He's not my dog, he's my elderly roommate's dog.
I'm just asking basic advice on where to start and how to help my roommate..
Yeah, but you've been given information, but you didn't seem to want it? Guy above this kinda lays out why this isn't a thing.
Umm, do you realize it takes 60 days for my roommate to register or process anything?
Yeah, I figured I might try helping him by asking other people.
Guess you're no help then, thanks.
If you can't afford food you should surrender the dog, it's what a responsible owner would do if left with no choice, and it's unfortunate if anyone would have to have that course. But rejecting sound advice or information because it's not what you want to hear is something you should work on being better at.
Did you see how fat Brownie is? He's definitely not starving..
Roommate's health insurance changed this year, he's just trying to figure out what to do..
And we're here to tell you that you're not going to find a cheat code to turn a friendly dog with pet insurance into a gateway for free dog food by having your insurance pay for it. Insurance is for health, not for good behavior.
It's almost like you willingly ignored what I and others have said because you don't like what you're hearing.
His previous health insurance allowed him to purchase both human and dog food, but he's changed insurance providers and has been on the phone with their customer support to see what all they will or won't allow him to purchase.
A $10 bag of dog food ends up lasting Brownie almost 2 months, so it's not like some huge massive money saving hack, I'm just trying to see what if any options he might have to perhaps save a few bucks here and there.
I've already advised him that he should talk to his doctors and perhaps his case worker about his options the next time he goes in for an appointment.