Liability insurance for Healthcare

• Do I need malpractice tail coverage?

  Only if you are leaving a claims-made policy without something else covering your prior acts — that is the entire test. Occurrence policies have the tail built in. For employed physicians the practical question is who pays for it, and the AMA's advice is to settle that in the employment contract, not at resignation.

• Do I want claims made or occurrence malpractice?

  If occurrence coverage is offered for your specialty and market, it is the simpler buy — tail coverage is built in, so changing jobs or retiring costs nothing extra. Claims-made works just as well on one condition: who pays the tail must be settled in writing before you sign, not negotiated at departure.

Coverage mechanics for Healthcare

Policy mechanics, exclusions, certificates, and claims questions live on our sister publication: Healthcare on isthiscovered.org.