Medical malpractice insurance, also known as medical liability insurance, is a requirement for most medical professionals. While medical malpractice insurance tends to be costly for healthcare providers, it is an essential coverage for medical providers. Here’s a handy guide to medical malpractice insurance.
The Basics Regarding Medical Malpractice Insurance
Medical malpractice insurance provides liability coverage for healthcare professionals in regards to errors that occur in their medical practice. This professional coverage is outside of what a normal general liability policy will cover.
Malpractice insurance covers medical professionals for lawsuits arising from errors in the duty of the provider. This includes coverage for bodily injury of patients who are in the care of the provider and the associated costs of lawsuits and damages rewarded. This also includes coverage for defense costs for claims made against the provider, whether they have merit or not.
While defense costs are covered, it is important to understand if this is included in the policy limit or outside of it, as this could eat away at the limit of coverage in the policy. In addition while malpractice insurance covers liability from errors in medical care, insurance companies will not cover acts that are intentional or criminal.
The Medical Malpractice Insurance Policy
The medical malpractice policy starts with a declaration page that has all of the basic information for what the insurance policy covers. It starts with the insurance company name, a policy number and the effective date for which the policy is in place.
It then gives a summary of the limits of insurance and deductible. The description of limits will have separate limits for each claim and the aggregate. This means that for each claim the maximum paid is the each occurrence limit and for the total policy year the maximum paid would be the aggregate.
Another key piece of information on the declaration page will be the retroactive date. This is important as the typical malpractice policy is a claims made policy and this retroactive date provides coverage for an occurrence happening after this date and reported during the policy period.
Medical Malpractice Insurance Options
When placing your medical malpractice insurance it is important to work with professionals who understand your practice and have access to carriers who specialize in providing malpractice coverage. By doing this you will have access to more options for coverage and potentially better pricing from policy specialization and negotiation.
There are also alternatives to traditional medical malpractice written through insurance carriers. These would include group captives and risk retention groups. Since these alternatives are different then traditional insurance it is important to work with professionals who can handle your specific insurance needs.
Do Your Homework
By researching insurance agencies and carriers you will put yourself in a good position to protect yourself from claims and lawsuits. Working with an agent who knows your industry is the first step in assuring a comprehensive and secure malpractice policy.
It is also important to work with insurance carriers who specialize in malpractice and are financially sound. By doing this you can ensure a sound medical malpractice insurance policy for you and your health care practice.
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Source by Russ Birch
