What is Medical Malpractice Insurance?

Medical malpractice coverage is a professional liability insurance type (or errors and omissions coverage) for those in medical or healthcare professions. This insurance protection shields medical professionals when claims of negligence or bodily harm are filed. While your policy remains active, medical malpractice coverage includes:

Defense costs: Hiring legal counsel, expert witness expenses, and court fees.

Legal settlements: Malpractice Coverage pays any legal settlements due to the injured third party.

Worldwide coverage: Protects you when a claim is filed against you in any US state.

Good Samaritan Coverage: This applies when you help someone outside of your primary work setting.

Sexual Misconduct: A malpractice policy covers defense expenses until you are proven guilty of accused misconduct.

Who Needs Medical Malpractice Insurance?

Anyone in a medical profession should secure medical malpractice coverage and in most states—they're required to. Here are some examples:

• Doctors/Physicians
• Surgeons
• Dentists
• Orthodontists
• Chiropractors
• Home Healthcare Providers
• Plastic Surgery Centers
• Nurses/Nurse Practitioners
• Physical Therapists
• Occupational Therapists
• Personal Trainers
• Optometrist
• Therapists/Counselors

While not a complete list, when you are in a medical profession, be sure to check with your state licensing board to determine if you're required to secure medical liability coverage.

What is Excluded from These Policies?

While medical malpractice does protect against professional negligence, there are several instances where you would NOT be protected:

• Instances of sexual misconduct
• Negligence while under the influence of alcohol or illicit substances
• Fraudulent or criminal activities
• Claims not associated with the business practice on your policy
• Claims that you knowingly distributed protected health information

Why Professional Liability Insurance is Necessary

Professional liability coverage is essential to protect you, your business, and personal assets when your practice is sued. Here are some examples:

Example #1: You're an ER Doctor and someone is rushed in that needs immediate medical care. You provide the best care possible for their injury, but the patient dies. Later, it is discovered that they were administered a drug that they were allergic to and it might have contributed to their death. The family files a lawsuit against you claiming negligence. Your medical malpractice protection steps in to pay your legal costs and potential settlement.

Example #2: An off-duty nurse happens upon a car accident and is the first medical professional on the scene. While not obligated to act, the nurse rushes to aid the people in the accident. One of the injured parties is bleeding heavily from their arm. The nurse applies a tourniquet to stop the blood flow, likely saving their life. However, the injured person ends up losing their arm and blames the off-duty nurse. The Good Samaritan part of the professional liability coverage steps in to pay legal expenses for the nurse.

Example #3: A chiropractor sees a patient who has been dealing with chronic neck pain. In an attempt to provide some relief, the chiropractor gives the individual an adjustment. However, the individual withheld information from the chiropractor and didn't provide all of the necessary medical history. They ended up in the hospital and required immediate surgery. They decide to sue the chiropractor for negligence and causing physical harm. While medical liability is still uncertain, the chiropractor's malpractice policy steps in to pay defense expenses and the possible monetary settlement.

Claims-Made Vs Occurrence Based Medical Malpractice Policies

Medical malpractice insurers typically offer professionals the option of two different policy types:

Occurrence Policies

The first malpractice insurance policy type is called occurrence coverage. These insurance policies protect medical professionals when insurance claims are filed years after the incident occurred—as long as the policy was active on the day that the incident actually happened. When a malpractice claim is filed against you after you retire or after you allow the policy to expire, you are still protected for the incident.

Claims Made Policies

A claims-made liability policy is less expensive—but also less comprehensive. This policy type offers protection for a specific time period. When you have a three-year claims-made malpractice policy, you are protected for any lawsuit or claim up to three years. When a lawsuit gets filed for something that the plaintiff claims you did wrong today and it is not within the policy period, you will not be protected. When you retire or leave the medical profession, you will want to get a malpractice insurance type called tail protection.

So What is Tail Coverage?

Sometimes called an Extended Reporting Period Policy, tail protection allows healthcare professionals to extend claims-made protection for a certain time period. Those extensions are typically between 1–5 years, though some insurance carriers in the industry do provide unlimited tail protection.

When you're switching from one insurance carrier to another and haven't opted for an extended reporting period, some insurance carriers offer "nose" protection. It's basically a policy extension that protects you from the time your last policy ended to the time the new one begins.

Other Policies to Consider for Your Medical Practice

What other policy should you evaluate to protect you and your business from liability? Here are several other policies medical professionals should evaluate:

Employment Practices Liability Insurance

Employment practices liability (EPL) protection is a must-have insurance endorsement coverage when you have employees. Employment practices liability endorsements pay defense and legal expenses of the physician or his human resources person, when an employee or former employee files an employment-related claim.

Employment-related claims include such things as wrongful termination, discrimination, sexual harassment, breach of an employee's civil rights, the disclosure of confidential employee information which facilitates identity theft. Additionally, it protects against whistleblower and retaliation claims.

Workers' Compensation Insurance

When you operate a medical practice and have doctors, nurses, and administrative staff under your employ, you want to invest in Workers' Compensation. Most states require it. Workers' compensation coverage applies to employees who have been injured on the job. This policy type pays for lost wages, medical, and legal expenses.

How Much Does Medical Malpractice Insurance Cost?

Malpractice coverage is typically available through traditional insurers and something called a medical risk retention group (RRG). Many insurance carriers offer policy limits between $100,000/$300,000 all the way to $1 million/$3 million. The first number refers to the limit per occurrence while the second is the maximum allowed per lifetime of the policy. The coverage limits you choose make a significant impact on your policy cost. What else affects the cost of malpractice coverage?

• The specialty of the physicians
• The services you provide
• How large the practice is
• The geographic location of the practice
• The claims history of the doctors

Because the risk of each provider type is vastly different, an average cost is not possible. For more information on what you might pay, talk to a licensed insurance agent. They can help you estimate what you might pay for your premium.

Get a Medical Malpractice Insurance Quote

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