PAMart Posted May 26, 2018 Share Posted May 26, 2018 Hi all, I'm a new grad PA with a recent job offer in my desired specialty and location but offers only to pay for claims based malpractice without tail. I would be practicing in a tier 3 location and specialty (meaning I need the most expensive form of malpractice). I looked into purchasing my own occurrence based malpractice and it is wildly expensive (it would be almost 10% of my salary) and the physician I would be working for refused to help me pay for it. I am practicing in a state that only allows someone to sue practitioners within 3 years after the supposed incident or 1 year after the incident was discovered. I am wondering your thoughts on this situation - would you bite the bullet and pay for your own occurrence based plan? or would you let the physician pay for the claims based insurance, knowing you would have to pick up the tail if you left? Lastly, if I were to pay for a tail after leaving, how many years would you suggest I buy the tail for? Thank you all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AbeTheBabe Posted May 27, 2018 Share Posted May 27, 2018 You could look into buying tail when/if you leave. From what I understand as long as the policy is in effect you will be covered. So as long as the employer you're working for doesn't go bankrupt, it's not like the doc is gonna go without insurance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anewconvert Posted May 27, 2018 Share Posted May 27, 2018 8 hours ago, AbeTheBabe said: You could look into buying tail when/if you leave. From what I understand as long as the policy is in effect you will be covered. So as long as the employer you're working for doesn't go bankrupt, it's not like the doc is gonna go without insurance. *and doesn’t change policy provider Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAMart Posted May 27, 2018 Author Share Posted May 27, 2018 Thank you for your responses! From what I understand, tail policies can be extremely expensive. If I leave after 3 years, for example, will I then be stuck paying an expensive tail for the rest of my career? When in contrast, I could have bought an occurrence based policy for those three years and then hopefully have my next employer pay for either occurrence or more likely claims based plus tail later on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AbeTheBabe Posted May 27, 2018 Share Posted May 27, 2018 7 hours ago, PAMart said: Thank you for your responses! From what I understand, tail policies can be extremely expensive. If I leave after 3 years, for example, will I then be stuck paying an expensive tail for the rest of my career? When in contrast, I could have bought an occurrence based policy for those three years and then hopefully have my next employer pay for either occurrence or more likely claims based plus tail later on. Once you are past the limitation by law then there's no reason to have a tail. I believe where I live it's 7 years so after 7 years there is no tail needed anymore. You can just make sure your next job offer occurrence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SedRate Posted June 1, 2018 Share Posted June 1, 2018 Ask your employer for a compromise: 1. They pay for occurrence and take the difference in cost between claims made and occurrence out of your paycheck/salary. A little over the top, I'll admit, but at least you have that piece of mind. 2. Decline their coverage, have the cost added to your salary and then buy your own. Have you consulted a malpractice or contract lawyer? Honestly, this would be your best bet. They could give you counsel on which avenue to take and coverage requirements in the event you leave, and then they could also review your contract at the same time. I almost had a similar situation to the one you're in, but thankfully they switched over to occurrence before I joined. Otherwise, I was just going to bite the bullet and hope I wouldn't end up leaving and having to pay for the tail later. Interestingly enough, I'm still here four years later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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