When a doctor works only at a hospital, does the doctor usually have his own medical malpractice insurance?
April 1, 2009 by
Filed under Insurance
Jordan X asked:
I'm happy with generalities, but if anyone has info specific to NY, that'd be helpful. I am curious really about two things: (1) Do doctors typically carry separate insurance beyond what is covered under the hospital's insurance policy? (2) Does the hospital provide a separate policy for each individual doctor or clinic, or is it one big pool for the whole hospital?
I'm happy with generalities, but if anyone has info specific to NY, that'd be helpful. I am curious really about two things: (1) Do doctors typically carry separate insurance beyond what is covered under the hospital's insurance policy? (2) Does the hospital provide a separate policy for each individual doctor or clinic, or is it one big pool for the whole hospital?
I am aware of a situation in which a hospital's insurance is about to be expended, but there are ongoing claims against individual doctors.
Rid Yeast Infections in Less than 12 Hours
My friend's father is a surgeon, and he carries a $2 million dollar umbrella policy to protect himself from lawsuits. I don't know whether the hospital provides additional coverage or not.
Likely, the surgeon would carry professional liability insurance and the hospital would carry it's own separate insurance. Knowing that isn't going to help you, however. If you have a case against either the doctor or hospital, you'll have to sue.
~~This may vary by state, but in California every physician must carry medical malpractice insurance to keep their license or to be contracted under any insurance company, or to practice in a hospital.
I don't know exactly how hospitals insure themselves, but an educated guess would be a large liability policy.~~
If the doctor is an employee of the hospital, they do not have their own coverage. If they are NOT an employee of the hospital, they do have their own coverage.
The hospital has their own malpractice policy, which includes blanket coverage for all employees - so one pool for the whole hospital.