MEDPLI’s founder and independent medical malpractice insurance broker Max Schloemann was recently published on the Managed Healthcare Executive website. His article, titled “Medical Malpractice Insurance Planning for a Healthy Practice in 2021” breaks down what practitioners can expect of the liability insurance landscape in 2021.
Max warns that providers should expect an increase in medical malpractice insurance rates across the board, though how much depends on a provider’s specialty. Some specialties will see as high as a 20% increase, while internal and family medicine rates are only expected to increase about 5%.
He also dives into how telemedicine will affect insurance policies. Even as certain states loosen their regulations around allowing out of state doctors to provide care to their COVID-19 residents, insurance carriers are not typically covering doctors who provide out of state telemedicine. If telehealth causes patient volume to increase or if insurance companies see an increase in claims related to misdiagnosis, practitioners may see rates climb.
Max recommends that practitioners should increase their cyber liability coverage. While basic liability is included in a general policy, it may not be enough. “We have seen even small practices become targets for hackers who view health care practitioners as soft targets and are typically looking for ransom after gaining access to private data”, he says.
Max concludes his article with a summary of predictions on how the growth of medical marijuana and ketamine treatments will affect insurance. Essentially, insurers will start to offer special policies for providers who certify that a patient meets the requirements for the medical marijuana program in their state. In addition, as ketamine assisted psychotherapy (KAP) becomes more mainstream, malpractice carriers are expected to respond to the surge in ketamine-related malpractice claims.
To see the full article, click here.
