Basic malpractice questions...cmon, anyone?

[quietmedic]

So, I admit, I'm a little confused. After being covered in an institution, I have had several jobs in several clinics one after the other, each with their own malpractice coverage for me, which has always been claims-made. Now I'm a bit confused, or perhaps a lot confused.

 

Firstly, I understand that claims-made is only for the policy period, not like occurrence, which covers you forever and ever. Now, if one goes from job A to job B, and both have claims-made coverage, and one gets sued while they are at job B for an incident that happened at job A, is it correct that one is not covered? In other words, does Job B's insurance cover you ONLY for incidents arising at Job B, even if you are working at job B when a lawsuit comes down for something at Job A?

 

As a followup, if one has been at 20 different jobs in succession, if in fact one is only covered at each job by each individual insurance WHILE they are at that job (IOW claims-made at job B doesn't cover a suit against you while you are at job B for something that happened at job A years prior), does that mean you need to buy tail coverage twenty times, spending tens of thousands??

 

And furthermore, if one has already gone to Job D or E, do I now have to go back and buy tail coverage for each job I ever had, years after the fact, just to be safe from any possible future lawsuits, Gd forbid?

 

I'm really confused about how all this works. Hope y'all can help.

[Katera]

So, I admit, I'm a little confused. After being covered in an institution, I have had several jobs in several clinics one after the other, each with their own malpractice coverage for me, which has always been claims-made. Now I'm a bit confused, or perhaps a lot confused.

 

Firstly, I understand that claims-made is only for the policy period, not like occurrence, which covers you forever and ever. Now, if one goes from job A to job B, and both have claims-made coverage, and one gets sued while they are at job B for an incident that happened at job A, is it correct that one is not covered? In other words, does Job B's insurance cover you ONLY for incidents arising at Job B, even if you are working at job B when a lawsuit comes down for something at Job A?

 

As a followup, if one has been at 20 different jobs in succession, if in fact one is only covered at each job by each individual insurance WHILE they are at that job (IOW claims-made at job B doesn't cover a suit against you while you are at job B for something that happened at job A years prior), does that mean you need to buy tail coverage twenty times, spending tens of thousands??

 

And furthermore, if one has already gone to Job D or E, do I now have to go back and buy tail coverage for each job I ever had, years after the fact, just to be safe from any possible future lawsuits, Gd forbid?

 

I'm really confused about how all this works. Hope y'all can help.

 

 

 

 

In General, as long as a clinic you worked at is still in business and still paying their fees to the malpractice ins company, you should be good.  The problem comes in if the place you worked closes up shop or goes under.  At that point they must buy a tail for all those years of coverage.  If they don't....you are screwed.

[Reality Check 2]

AAPA Journal has multiple advertisements for malpractice carriers.

 

They are usually very willing to talk through these issues - yes, they are trying to sell you your own policy.

 

But, if you ask them your questions above - you will get the answers from the horse's mouth.

 

That would likely be the best source.