Medical Malpractice Insurance Issues To Know

As sure as the sun will rise in the east and set in the west, the medical professional from whom you receive patient care will have some form of medical malpractice insurance. Employers of medical professionals will too carry medical malpractice insurance to cover the entity and professional in the event that an instance of medical malpractice occurs.

The experienced Kingston, New York medical malpractice attorney knows that there are a myriad of insurance issues surrounding medical malpractice that patients should know about. First and foremost, victims of medical malpractice should never talk to a negligent doctor’s insurance company without the help of an experienced attorney. Insurance professionals are very sophisticated, and they do not have the best interests of the patient in mind; they just want to settle claims fast and cheep.

The ability to receive compensation from an insurance company for the negligent acts committed by a covered medical professional, there must be a policy that covers the event that which is claimed. This much is probably obvious. Less obvious is the type of policy that the doctor has will impact an injured patient’s ability to receive an insurance payout.

For example, if the negligent medical professional had a claims-made policy, the doctor must have committed malpractice and the claim against the doctor must be made while the policy was in effect. Therefore, injured patients must act fast when victimized by malpractice because if they make a claim against the doctor’s insurer after the policy expires, they might not be able to receive an insurance payout.

On the other hand, the medical professional might have an occurrence-made policy. This will put the doctor and the injured patient in a better position. This type of policy will cover a medical malpractice event that occurred while the policy was in the effect, and even if the claim is made after the policy expired.

Assume that the policy will cover the medical malpractice that which you endured. The next issue that you will have to confront is the coverage limits of the policy. You most likely understand the concept of coverage limits because your motor vehicle coverage policy has coverage limits. The problem that many medical malpractice victims have is that the cost of their injuries exceeds the value of the negligent doctor’s coverage limits.

Whether the relevant policy is per-occurrence, single coverage, and if there is an aggregate limit will affect the amount of money an injured patient can receive.

But what do you think? I would love to hear from you! Leave a comment or I also welcome your phone call on my toll-free cell at 1-866-889-6882 or you can drop me an e-mail at jfisher@fishermalpracticelaw.com. You are always welcome to request my FREE book, The Seven Deadly Mistakes of Malpractice Victims, at the home page of my website at www.protectingpatientrights.com.