How to Lower Medical Malpractice Insurance Premiums

Medical malpractice insurance helps protect medical providers during negligence lawsuits. Nurses, chiropractors and physicians are some of the health professionals who purchase medical malpractice insurance to cover lawsuit-related costs, including lawyers' fees. Rates can cost more for some health specialties, such as neurosurgery. You can lower medical malpractice insurance premiums by reviewing your policy with your medical insurance carriers and comparing it with comparable coverage from different insurance providers.

Instructions

1. Review your current medical malpractice insurance carrier. Analyze the type of malpractice medical insurance, the dates of coverage and the limits of the malpractice insurance, which can affect the amount of money paid in premiums. Make a note of any misunderstood terms and call your medical malpractice carrier for clarification. Discuss the possibility of insurance premium discounts, such as a claims free discount. Remind the insurance company how many years you have not filed a malpractice claim, since some companies can view filing no claims as a lower insurance risk.

2. Confirm your eligibility for any discounts and ask how much of a discount you can receive. Make a reminder note to contact your carrier each year about your medical malpractice discounts.

   For instance, you may not be eligible for a claims free discount as a first-year health professional, but will become eligible by the fifth year. An August 2010 Cover MD report explains that the claims free discount level requires pre-approval from the Department of Insurance based on your state.

3. Adjust the amount of your malpractice deductible to save on your premiums with a higher deductible, since some insurers offer lower premiums with high-deductible malpractice policies. Some insurance carriers can charge high deductibles and still offer limited malpractice medical coverage.

4. Contact at least three to five medical malpractice insurance carriers to make plan comparisons. Check with fellow health professionals to get their recommnendations for carriers. According to an August 2010 Med Mal Broker report, you'll get the most effective information by using a prewritten list of questions ranging in topic from current health care providers to a roster of the states covered.

   Keep a copy of each malpractice insurance carrier's information package, including the types of malpractice coverage offered and the premium rates, for future reference.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep copies of all your correspondence with insurance carriers.

• Review your malpractice insurance policy carefully before signing. You may want to have your attorney review it, as well.

• Use reminders for premium payments to avoid late fees.

References

• Cover MD: Medical Liability Insurance Facts That Can Affect What You Pay
• Med Mal Broker: Questions to Ask When Evaluationg a Medical Malpractice Insurance Carrier

Resources

• Physicians Practice: Malpractice Insurance How to Lower Your Premium