Veterinary Care Partnership (VCP) Program
IAADP has established an emergency veterinary care fund to help IAADP Partner Members in the USA when their partnership is threatened by the need for high cost veterinary intervention beyond their ability to pay. IAADP’s Board of Directors administers this program.
About VCP Program
IAADP is thrilled to have veterinarians to participate in this humanitarian effort to assist disabled members on a low income. In the past we heard of case after case where the disabled person was faced with the heartbreak of returning their assistance dog to the provider or turning their dog over to a rescue so the assistance dog could receive the care deemed critical by the veterinarian. This VCP Fund initiative is intended for those cases when an assistance dog develops a sudden illness or injury that is treatable but the high cost of veterinary intervention to maintain a working partnership is unaffordable. As per the guidelines to follow, in such cases a veterinarian may apply to our VCP fund for financial aid on behalf of the IAADP Partner Member’s assistance dog.
The goal is to “Save a Partnership”. Please realize our funds are very limited. IAADP asks Assistance Dog Partner members to only apply for funding when conditions of severe financial hardship exist.
This is a grant, not an insurance or entitlement program. Veterinarians should initiate the request for a grant from IAADP’s Board of Directors as they are the administrators of the program.
- The following guidelines have been developed and adopted by the IAADP Board of Directors to clarify the conditions under which grants will be made:
- You must be a United States IAADP Partner Member in good standing, currently partnered with an adult hearing, guide or service dog. Dogs under 18 months and retired dogs are not eligible.
- To be considered an IAADP Partner Member in good standing, eligible to apply for a VCP Grant, a new or lapsed Renewal Member must be enrolled a minimum of 45 days prior to the veterinarian’s application to VCP. The 45 days will be determined according to the records in IAADP’s database showing the enrollment date, defined as the precise date when the Membership ID card was first issued by the Database Manager.
- Grants will only be considered if the assistance dog’s health problem seriously interferes with the ability to work or has the potential of shortening the dog’s working life if left untreated. In either case, the proposed treatment should have a high probability of extending that dog’s working life by a year or more to be eligible for a grant.
- VCP funds will be a capped amount available to members on a calendar year basis from January 1 to December 31; however, regardless of year, grants for a single diagnosis and/or illness shall not exceed the capped amount.
- Pre-existing conditions are not covered.
- Routine expenses such as annual exams, vaccinations, flea prevention, heartworm products or routine tests or elective procedures like teeth cleaning, the removal of fatty tumors, a wellness panel of blood tests or minor problems like an ear infection, impacted anal sacks, etc. WILL NOT be considered for a grant.
- Member must be experiencing a severe financial hardship at the time of the grant request. Remember that the intent is to maintain a partnership threatened by high cost veterinary intervention.
- Evidence of routine veterinary care during the previous twelve months may be requested to be eligible for grant consideration.
- Written Pre-Authorization is required. Exceptions will be evaluated for documented after hour’s emergency cases or a documented dire emergency during office hours [like a dog being hit by a car or life threatening case of bloat] when the case is submitted to IAADP on the next business day following such emergency treatment.
- A minimum of $200 per grant request, covering no more than one office visit, is required for a grant to be considered. The IAADP Partner Member is responsible for the first $100 of expenses; thus, the amount of $100 will be deducted from any grant request, i.e. for a $500 grant request, a check for $400 will be issued.
- If, as part of a diagnosis and treatment plan for the serious health condition affecting the dog’s working ability, on-going medications are required, grant requests for the medications will be considered subject to these rules:
— No more than one request per quarter.
— Each request must meet the minimum of $200 per grant request covering no more than one office visit and subject to the $100 deductible.
— No more than a three month supply per medication can be included in the grant request. - As the Administrator of the VCP Program, IAADP’s Board of Directors has full discretion to approve or decline grants.
- If any member is found to be abusing the VCP Program, they will be barred from any participation in the VCP Program and this abuse will affect membership status in IAADP.
NEED FINANCIAL AID and you do NOT qualify for IAADP’s VCP Fund?
Our VCP Fund is only for assistance dogs over 18 months of age working with a Partner Member of IAADP. If you are in need of financial aid for a puppy, a dog in training, an assistance dog for a non-member, a dog with cancer, your emotional support animal or companion animal of any species, there are other resources you can turn to for help.
The following links will take you to other websites that provide financial aid for dogs in need of veterinary care. After visiting these resources, it may be worthwhile to visit their Link Page, as some use their Link Page to refer you to additional organizations that may be able to provide funding to dog owners who have a dog in need of surgery or some other high cost veterinary intervention beyond the owner’s ability to pay.