I was recently licensed as a pharmacist in the state of Georgia, and I’m looking to buy malpractice insurance above and beyond when my employer offers. But, I don’t know how much coverage I need to get.
My question is: Does anyone know what the average, and maximum malpractice payouts that a pharmacist would have to pay? I’m looking at two different policies, one that does $1 million an event, $3 million a year, and one that is $2 million an event, $4 million a year. How can I determine which would be best for me? What is the normal payouts a pharmacist would be responsible for?
When I tried googeling the info, I kept getting results from malpractice lawyers, and couldn’t find an unbiased source.
Mods: I’m looking for factual info, so figured GQ was the best place. If you think this thread would be better in IMHO then feel free to move (though, you would do anyhow)
In my opinion, which is uneducated for your area, but somewhat educated in the business world in general, I would talk to an insurance broker. They’ll shop the different companies for you and come back with several different quotes from several different companies. One of the reasons I say this is you might find out that the cost to go from 1m/3m to 2m/4m is insignificant compared to the extra coverage it gets you. For example if (and I’m making up numbers here) 1m/3m is $500 per year and 2m/3m is $600 it might be worth it to you to just get the higher coverage. Also, the other reason to talk to a broker is that they may very well be able to give you statistics on what the average payout is, or possibly better then statistics, real world examples. As in “I insure 15 pharmacists and in 12 years have only made 20 or so payouts and none of them have been more then 100k”.
You could probably get this from a regular agent as well, but what you get from a broker is that they work with multiple insurance companies so they can usually (not always) command better rates.
Also, how do you coordinate your benefits? That is, if you do get sued for malpractice who pays out? Do they both pay out equally? Does one pay out until it maxes out and then the other kicks in? Is the insurance you’re looking to get specifically to cover what your employers insurance won’t/can’t cover? I’m just curious, this stuff is usually all either written into the policy or part of the law in your state.
I would contact the American Pharmacists Association and seeing what they recommend. This kind of question is exactly what professional/trade associations are for!
You definitely need to talk to an insurance broker who deals with businesses, and especially with professional malpractice insurance. You can do your homework online, but please please please work with a human broker who can figure out what you need, or if you even need that much insurance at all. They’re happy to take your money and sell you a policy, but a reputable broker will be honest with you when you don’t need something.