Medical Malpractice Insurance

At Gallagher Healthcare, we understand that there are many different terms, insurance companies, policy components and criteria for medical malpractice insurances. This is where we come in. Our Gallagher brokers are here to advise physicians on the ins and outs of the market, explaining confusing policy language and to negotiate the best coverage and rates to fit our client’s needs.

Medical malpractice is most widely known as a situation where something goes wrong in a medical setting, resulting in the patient’s injury or death. However, there are four different criteria required for a lawsuit to proceed as a medical malpractice case:

• The medical provider must have a duty to the patient.
• The medical provider breached that duty as a result of action or inaction.
• The injury resulted from the breach of duty.
• There must be an established link between the injury and the medical provider.

In order to ensure you have ample coverage, we can help you find the best medical malpractice insurance for you and your practice. There are many different types of companies who provide these services. The most common insurer is an admitted carrier. Each company is structured to state guidelines and is regulated by the State Department of Insurance. These carriers are typically backed by a state guarantee fund, which provides an extra layer of coverage in the event that the insurance company becomes insolvent.

Excess and Surplus lines are generally the type of carrier that insures hospitals and are able to customize the rates and policies to peculiar risks. The physicians own the Risk Retention Groups so it’s their goal to lower the premium as much as possible. Because they are not admitted carriers, they are able to avoid many state regulations and red tape. For those who are able to remain self-insured, particularly hospitals, they can choose a captive insurance policy. In some states, physicians can create a trust that insures its members, which are subject to different regulations than admitted carriers, depending on the state. If there is difficulty finding coverage in a normal market, physicians and hospitals can turn to joint underwriting associations for medical malpractice. However, this is generally a last resort.

This is just one of the things you have to think about when searching for medical malpractice insurance. In addition, there is also two different types of policies to consider, claims-made versus occurrence policies, policy components and the insurance rates. Gallagher Healthcare clears up all of the questions you may have and helps your take care of all of the problems in finding your own medical malpractice insurance. Let us make your coverage search easy.