Malpractice Insurance

[jonnymiz63]

I currently do not have malpractice insurance, but have started looking into it. Is it something worth having and if so who's a good provider? I have looked into nso and they seem decent. Any thoughts would help. Thanks.

[elkpark]

This is one of the things you ask before you buy. Some will cover you for something that happened whenever so long as you are paying premium NOW. Some will cover you for something that happened whenever if you were paying premium THEN. Ask. Never, ever be afraid to ask

I interpret RNnewbie's question as being whether insurance will cover you for something that happened before you initially purchased the coverage. I am unaware of any insurance company, anywhere on the planet, that will cover you for an incident that occurred prior to your being covered by them -- just as you can't buy auto insurance that will cover you for an automobile accident that already happened. There is no retroactive coverage that I've ever heard of. If that were the case, no one would buy insurance until they knew they needed it, which would pervert and defeat the entire basic premise of insurance. :)

You are only covered for incidents occurring once you are covered by the insurance company. This is one of the reasons having your own coverage is important. If you are relying on your employer's insurance (a mistake to begin with, IMO) and something happens, it is entirely up to the employer to decide whether to cover you or not. If the employer's attorneys and risk managers can find someone, one or more individual employees, to blame for the incident, that deflects blame and liability from the facility/organization -- and that is what those people (the hospital's attorneys and risk managers) are paid to do. Once they identify someone to blame, they promptly fire that person and, presto change-o, you're no longer covered by their insurance (heck, they're blaming you for the incident -- they're certainly not going to defend you). I personally saw this very scenario play out many times at different hospitals in my state when I was working as a state surveyor. At that point, if you don't already have your own insurance, you're screwed -- because you can't buy insurance now that will cover you for the incident that has already occurred.