Malpractice Limits in Pain Medicine

[TeslaCoil]

Im filling out a new malpractice insurance application. Wondering what people's takes are on how much to ask for in terms of limits. I live in a state where the non-economic damage cap is $1.05 million. That has no bearing on economic damages obviously. I see that the average payout for settled claims, which account for 96.5% of cases is something like ~$400,000, but the cases that go to trial and win which is the rest (3.5%), are significantly higher. Like $1.1-1.2 million. How much coverage does everybody have and in which state are you practicing?

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[AdminPatient]

$1M/$3M is common in IL

 

[TeslaCoil]

1 mil/ 3 mil seems to be the most common scenario but I've seen payouts higher than that in pain. Makes me a little nervous going with the standard 1 mil/3 mil.

 

[au bon pain]

1 mil/ 3 mil seems to be the most common scenario but I've seen payouts higher than that in pain. Makes me a little nervous going with the standard 1 mil/3 mil.

Some would argue that the higher the policy limits, the more emboldened the plaintiff's attorney is to just sue for more money. Lawyers generally don't want to spend their time trying to get more than the policy limit since it's time consuming and expensive for them to chase a doc's personal assets.

 

[TeslaCoil]

Some would argue that the higher the policy limits, the more emboldened the plaintiff's attorney is to just sue for more money. Lawyers generally don't want to spend their time trying to get more than the policy limit since it's time consuming and expensive for them to chase a doc's personal assets.

Is that information that the plaintiff’s lawyers are privy to?

 

[pastafan]

In many states you have the right to demand that your carrier settle the case for the limits of your policy. They do not have to settle but if the verdict exceeds your limits they are on the hook for the money.

The price differential for higher limits was never that great for me. I still had to pay around twice as much as a PMR doc for the same coverage. IMO if PMR going to 3M/5M is a no brainer.

 

[pastafan]

Another suggestion. Hospitals require 1M/3M coverage to be on staff. I requested that my malpractice carrier provide a COI that stated I had 1M/3M coverage instead of my actual coverage amount. After explaining my reasoning about wishing to keep my limits confidential they complied. I don't understand whey every carrier doesn't do this routinely.

 

[au bon pain]

Is that information that the plaintiff’s lawyers are privy to?

The plaintiff's lawyers will find out you have insurance after they submit intent to file a claim and your insurance company responds. How the limits may/may not be discovered I guess depends on what state you're in. Some allow the plaintiff's attorney to request it.