CNM Pay & Malpractice Insurance Cost in Los Angeles / Orange County

MunoRN, RN · Mar 20, 2018

I can't speak to Orange county in particular, but I have a good friend who is a CNM and she pays just shy of $50k per year, which sounds outrageous but keep in mind OB docs typically pay in excess of $100k per year. My friend could pay much less, but that would be for less coverage where she would have to pay more out of pocket, and she figures she would rather pay more upfront for full coverage than roll the dice with potential uncovered costs. She says should could get a plan for as little as $10k per year, but then could still owe a few hundred thousand dollars of uncovered costs. Her premiums were actually much lower when she first started, but since patients can still sue many years after the fact, the premium cost actually goes up in your first few years of practice.

makana16 · Mar 20, 2018

Wow. That just seems like so much. I guess I'm trying to figure out if the avg salary is say $150,000 but the cost of malpractice insurance is $50,000, I may not be bringing home as much as I thought. I still think I will become a midwife regardless of what the malpractice insurance/salary ratio is, however I'd like be prepared for what I'm getting into...

MunoRN, RN · Mar 20, 2018

She could instead work for the hospital and perform in-hospital midwife assisted births and pay very little in malpractice insurance, but she also would make a bit less.

There are occupational surveys that show most CNMs pay between $7k and $10k, but carry at least some out-of-pocket liability.

**LibraSunCNM, BSN, MSN, CNM** · Mar 20, 2018

You only have to pay your own malpractice if you're working in a solo practice. In a larger private practice or in hospital practice, it's paid for you. However, you may make less money in those practices than in solo practice.

Purplemidwife · Apr 17, 2018

Makana, I live in So Ca. I have always been employed by a group and never needed to purchase my own MedMal policy. I graduated from CNM school in 1993. I am currently researching individual policy coverage. Currently being quoted ~$15,000 for 1M/3M claims-made coverage. After 5 years it goes up to about $23,000 for a year of coverage. I don't know of any CNM in this area paying $50K for coverage. Depending on where you are employed you can be looking at $100K - $175K annual salary. Lots of difference in salary depending on who is employing you, where you are employed (geographically), what your hours entail, what type of employment you are looking at (clinic only vs full scope), etc. d