Liability Insurance While Working In Federal Govt

[BC_89]

I'll be starting as a PACT-Pharmacist for the VA and haven't really considered getting malpractice insurance until now (didn't do it as an intern or during my PGY-1 and PGY-2 training). Although the federal organization has liability insurance, I consider it existing for the purpose to protect the organization as a whole and not so much the individual (been my mindset for awhile).

With that, I was curious if anyone out there has a preference based on your job routine. At this point, I've looked at Pharmacists Mutual ($122/year) and HPSO ($167/year). I don't deal with any type of compounding or dealing w/controlled agents (in terms of having a scope of practice). Looks like ASHP is linked with Proliability for $107/year, so was thinking of starting at that point purely for cost reasons.

Any and all feedback is welcome -

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[lord999]

Pharmacist-specific advice: DO NOT buy the standard malpractice plan! Both plans exclude administrative actions unless you get the government version of it that has a Federal PLI rider. Make sure you buy the rider which increases the price of your insurance. I personally recommend that you keep a federal PLI (for administrative matters like you punching someone at work) and a classical malpractice plan (for locum practice and the rare ones that break through Federal Tort Claims Act which requires special malice on your part).

VA reimburses half when you fill out the form:

https://www.va.gov/OHRM/docs/PLI_Processinginstructions.pdf

Physicians, Dentists, PA, and NP advice: This advice does not work for you in the federal government. There's matters relating to PLI RVU's that you need personalized advice on which plan(s) to buy. I really would recommend consulting the Service Chief and ACoS of your profession for the usual mix per specialty.

 

[lord999]

Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

This is what classical malpractice plans exclude from coverage, something called Bivens Actions where your actions deprive someone of their Constitutional rights. This is the most common way in the VA to be sued through FTCA on a personal level, and my own readings of what goes through OLC is many of them are MH related matters. You need the Fed PLI for those sorts of problems which are more likely than malpractice.

 

[lord999]

Sayers v. Department of Veterans Affairs, No. 18-2195 (Fed. Cir. 2020)

The VA promoted Dr. Sayers to Chief of Pharmacy Services for the Greater Los Angeles (GLA) Health Care System in 2003. In 2016, a VA site-visit team discovered violations of policy in the pharmacies under Sayers’s supervision. When Sayers failed to follow orders to immediately correct the...

law.justia.com

This is Jeff Sayers at GLA who honestly was an incompetent Chief but excellent PBM pharmacist back in the day. He was cautioned from multiple people, including me, NOT to take the GLA Chief position due to the incumbent's catastrophic mismanagement of the place, but he wanted the promotion.

That's what having a good PLI plan does for you, the coverage from AFGE was something around $600k to deal with.

If you're wondering what happened the previous incumbent, she promoted to Deputy Chief Consultant of PBM. She had the political instincts to know when to run. Jeff should have done so when he failed audit the first time.

 

[Caverject]

Sayers v. Department of Veterans Affairs, No. 18-2195 (Fed. Cir. 2020)

The VA promoted Dr. Sayers to Chief of Pharmacy Services for the Greater Los Angeles (GLA) Health Care System in 2003. In 2016, a VA site-visit team discovered violations of policy in the pharmacies under Sayers’s supervision. When Sayers failed to follow orders to immediately correct the...

law.justia.com

This is Jeff Sayers at GLA who honestly was an incompetent Chief but excellent PBM pharmacist back in the day. He was cautioned from multiple people, including me, NOT to take the GLA Chief position due to the incumbent's catastrophic mismanagement of the place, but he wanted the promotion.

That's what having a good PLI plan does for you, the coverage from AFGE was something around $600k to deal with.

If you're wondering what happened the previous incumbent, she promoted to Deputy Chief Consultant of PBM. She had the political instincts to know when to run. Jeff should have done so when he failed audit the first time.

Not that I underestimate you, because I never have, but you always blow me away with the most amazing federal advice you provide for all on this forum! Thanks for what you do, brother!

 

[sunnyandseventytwo]

Not that I underestimate you, because I never have, but you always blow me away with the most amazing federal advice you provide for all on this forum! Thanks for what you do, brother!

I have a lot of free time at work, but Lord999 takes it to another level. Also, he's far more productive with his time as I usually just shop REI sales and think about what I'm going to have for lunch.