As a healthcare provider, you are in the business of protection–your valuable patients and their families. Our business is to protect you, your medical practice, assets, income, employees, and more. To empower you to understand the details of medical malpractice insurance, let’s look at two aspects of coverage: claims-made versus occurrence insurance policies. The two are distinctly different, and one kind likely would fit your budget and protection needs best.
What Is Claims-made Coverage?
Claims-made medical malpractice insurance policies protect you and your practice from claims alleging medical error, negligence, or substandard health care interventions. Claims-made policies are usually less expensive than other kinds of coverage, but it’s important to realize that the lowest cost does not always equate to coverage, which will protect you sufficiently in case of a malpractice claim or lawsuit.
That said, claims-made insurance covers a healthcare provider when the patient opens a claim during the active phase of the insurance policy. Claims-made insurance policy rates increase yearly until maturity–usually, the five-year mark. After that, the costs of premiums may remain fairly stable.
Many physicians who purchase claims-made insurance policies also get tail coverage. Tail coverage can be added to an existing policy after an insurance carrier has insured the provider for years. These tail coverages protect the insured in case of death, retirement, or disability.
What Is Occurrence Coverage?
Occurrence medical malpractice insurance policies protect you and your practice from the same kind of claims cited above. However, the claim can be filed at any time–when the policy period is active or at any time afterward, as long as the incident in question happened during the insurance policy period. In effect, occurrence coverage lasts a lifetime, even when a healthcare provider changes location, specialty, or employer or even after he or she retires.
Given how long occurrence coverage offers protection, these insurance policies are much more expensive than the claims-made coverage. So, providers need to consider a long list of possible risks associated with their particular specialties, including their location (city versus rural setting, for instance) and the state where they practice. Medical malpractice insurance premiums can be much more expensive in a state such as Florida versus a state such as Missouri.
eQuoteMD Searches for the Best Malpractice Insurance in NY
As medical malpractice insurance brokers, our knowledgeable agents are not limited to any one carrier. Rather, they work with many well-known A-list insurance companies to deliver the best possible coverage and affordable rates physicians need and deserve.
Our quotes are customized to your location, the particulars of your practice, your specialty, your state, the number of employees, and much more. And we never charge a fee for our in-depth and reliable services. Our focus is on you, our valuable customers.
To learn more about what kind of medical malpractice insurance is best for you, call our St. Louis, MO, office at (855) 823-5283 or request a complimentary quote through our website. We can and will protect you as you practice your valuable profession.
