Workers Comp/Nurse Liability Insurance

Nurses General Nursing

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Let's say I wanted to get Workers Comp and Professional Liability/Malpractice Insurance on employees working in a hospital .. It is getting very confusing looking at these websites to try to get a quote.

On Nurses Services Organization (NSO) they offer what looks like professional . Since I am not an insurance expert, I am getting confused on the wording. On the page labeled "Professional Liability Insurance" it goes on to explain the coverage. In doing this it says these exact words from the website :

Nurses through NSO offers the following benefits:

  • Professional Liability Coverage

    • Covers you, up to $1 million each claim, for amounts that you become legally obligated to pay as a result of a professional liability claim arising out of a covered medical incident.

    • Covers you, up to $6 million annual aggregate, for all covered claims in the policy period.

    [*]Personal Liability Coverage – up to $1 million annual aggregate

    [*]Defendant Expense Benefit – up to $25,000 annual aggregate, up to $1,000 per day

    [*]License Safeguard – up to $25,000 annual aggregate

    [*]Personal Injury Coverage

    [*]Medical Payments – up to $25,000 per person, up to $100,000 annual aggregate

    [*]Assault Coverage – up to $25,000 annual aggregate

    [*]Damage to Property of Others – up to $10,000 annual aggregate

    [*]First Aid Expenses – up to $10,000 annual aggregate

    [*]Deposition Representation – up to $10,000 annual aggregate

    [*]Sexual Misconduct/Abuse – up to $25,000 annual aggregate

So it states that it is professional liability insurance but then in the first sentence it says it is "nurses malpractice insurance" .. Then the first bullet it goes back to professional liability insurance again. Are these the same things? Also, are all of these other coverages such as assault coverage, first aid expenses, etc included into this ONE policy or do I decide on each one individually and the cost goes up the more I choose?

Then to further complicate matters, I go to a website called Insureon for Workers Comp insurance. On their first page for a quote they ask "what type of insurance do you need?" I have options of "general liability and business property, Umbrella, Commercial Auto, Professional Liability, Workers Comp." So first question, is this general liability the same thing as the NSO website? Next, do I need all of these if I will have healthcare workers in a hospital? I'm just unsure of everything I need.

Any advice would help. Thanks in advance.

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I have a policy with NSO that I will be keeping my entire nursing career. (I also had personal when I was a teacher). It is all worked into one policy. It is worth every single penny. I am not familiar with Insureon, but I would look at their professional liability over a general liability policy. And compare/contrast with NSO. My professors at school all used NSO and lectured us for two hours on getting it asap. Good luck in whatever you choose!

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Specializes in Healthcare risk management and liability.

I am an insurance expert. In this context, the policy written by CNA and sold by NSO uses the terms 'professional liability' and 'malpractice' interchangeably. They are the same thing for all practical purposes. The different subcoverages and sublimits that you listed are all part of the CNA policy. They come standard with the policy and cost you nothing more.

As to your second point, Insureon is an agent that sells policies for small businesses, not individuals. Commercial general liability is not the same as .

I am confused about something: are you looking to get individual coverage for yourself, or are you the owner of a business and looking to get malpractice coverage and workers' comp coverage for your employees?

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Risk Manager, kind of a tricky situation. I am an owner of an agency, but I also work for that travel nurse agency and do contracts in the hospitals as well. So, in order to get contracts with hospitals, you have to have the workers comp and . So, to answer your question, I assume I am getting it for a business to cover my employees (which also covers me since I am one of my own employees).

So what I took away from both of you is to get the NSO coverage under business and all of those little subsections come with the plan. It doesn't seem very expensive either, which is good.

As far as workers compensation for my employees (me as well haha) what do you all suggest? Any certain company with good rates?

For my final question -- if I get the Malpractice/Professional (these are interchangeable correct?), then all I need from Insureon and somewhere else is workers comp, and I can ignore those other things such as "general liability and business property, umbrella" etc. sorry for all the questions. I'm new to the buying workers comp and insurance and just want to make sure my agency has everything that any hospital would require. Thanks in advance for all your help.

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Also, what is considered reasonable Workers Comp coverage/policy? I want what any average agency would get.. 100,000 , 500,000, 1 million? What sounds normal.

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Specializes in Healthcare risk management and liability.

#Ryanstum15, the absolute best advice I can give you is for you to find a good insurance broker to consult with you and to place your coverage. If you are running a business, you are well advised to look into other types of insurance than just workers' comp and malpractice for the employees. Management liability/D&O, for example, to cover you for any employment liability practices, such as you firing an employee and they turn around and sue you for wrongful termination. You may also need property, auto or other types of insurance as well.

In terms of the worker's comp limits, your state or the hospital may have specific requirements on the underwriter, type and limits of coverage, and this is where a broker familiar with your state can help. You can probably find malpractice coverage for the employees cheaper than going through NSO. NSO merely sells the policy, CNA writes it. NSO is more geared to writing individual policies; not so much identifying and meeting the needs of an agency owner.

In terms of where to find a broker, I would do this: call the state medical and hospital association and see if they recommend or endorse any particular broker. Many of them do. Call the hospital (usually the Finance office) and ask who they use to place their insurance. A good broker will probably end up saving you money by looking at the entire market and placing the most cost-effective coverage that meets your needs.

Let me know if I can be of any further help.

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Thank you. I will look into all of this. What if in the near future I don't see myself hiring anyone else other than myself. In this case, would it be pointless to get any other type of insurance other than malpractice and workers comp? My business is based out of my home and I won't be meeting anyone there, so it isn't like I will have a meeting and someone slip and fall on the premises and sue me. So just strictly from this situation, what insurance do you think I need:

I'm a business owner. Business based out of my home and no one will be coming to my home for business purposes. I plan to hire myself initially and no other employees for at least 6-8 months. I will be working inside of hospitals and driving to and from assignments when necessary. Just let me know with that situation what insurance you think I absolutely need. From talking to other people in the industry, all they ever mention for single contractors is workers comp and malpractice/professional liability.

Thanks for all of your input.

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Specializes in Healthcare risk management and liability.

^^^A follow-up question: are you running the business as a sole proprietorship, a corporation or a limited liability corporation?

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LLC and being taxed as an S-Corp

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Specializes in Healthcare risk management and liability.

OK, seeing that you are a LLC, the minimum you need right off the bat is professional liability and worker's comp. It is possible that the hospitals you contract with may also require commercial general liability coverage; I do for any agency/vendor that is providing services within my facilities. I still think sitting down with a broker is a good idea. If you go with NSO for professional liability (which may not be my first choice), be sure that they know that you need coverage as an agency owner, an employee of that agency and that this will be primary, not excess coverage, since you will not be covered by the hospital's insurance.

it is important to know that depending upon the sophistication of the hospital personnel reviewing your contract, they may have very specific insurance requirements that you have to meet. If you don't already know about this, be sure to ask the hospital before you sit down with a vendor or otherwise place your insurance coverage to make sure that you have the necessary insurance. For example, I review all such contracts and insurance arrangements to ensure that my insurance requirements are met by the vendor. Not all hospitals/healthcare systems have someone like me, so there may not be this level of scrutiny of your contract.

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