The California Department of Insurance has rejected Westchester Fire Insurance Company’s filing for a new Healthy Paws fixed-benefit pet insurance program.

The proposed product differed from traditional pet insurance by paying predetermined amounts for specific services, including hospitalization, major surgery, diagnostic testing, physical therapy, cancer treatment and end-of-life care.

Regulators raised concerns about how pets would be assigned between the new product and Westchester’s existing pet insurance program, finding that the eligibility criteria were not sufficiently clear or mutually exclusive.

The department also described the cancer benefit as potentially misleading. Although pets older than 10 could enroll, cancer coverage would be unavailable if enrollment occurred after that age.

Other concerns included limiting customers to three preset benefit packages and prohibiting coverage upgrades after enrollment. The department concluded that the program was overly restrictive, confusing and potentially unfairly discriminatory.

The filing was rejected at intake as incomplete, without prejudice, allowing Westchester to submit a revised proposal.