Carrying Your Own Medical Assistant Malpractice Insurance Coverage

How Much Insurance is Enough?

One of the most important employment benefits is good professional liability and malpractice insurance! Every medical assistant should make sure they have adequate malpractice insurance coverage when working.

Is the Employer's Policy Enough Coverage?

However, it is not always enough to accept insurance under the employer’s policy as a rider and assume this is adequate protection in case of a lawsuit. Medical assistants should insist on their own personal policy, either through their employer or on their own! The reason for having a working professional liability and malpractice insurance policy is simple: protection and peace of mind.

Regardless whether a medical assistant is covered under the employer’s policy, he or she may still be liable for his or her own negligence and may be responsible for all or part of a plaintiff’s award or settlement. In some cases the employee (the medical assistant) may have to compensate the employer (the doctor) who has paid damages to the claimant.

Assuming Liabilty Yourself, or Insurance Coverage... Which Costs Less?

A medical assistant can either assume that liability, which means paying damages awarded to the claimant in case of a lawsuit out of her own pocket, or buy an insurance policy to transfer the risk. Insurance companies accept the transfer of risk in exchange for the payment of premiums. Therefore, whether as a student on externship, or as a professional working under a physician, medical assistants should get their own professional liability and malpractice insurance policy! It is really worth the cost and effort; and in keeping all things in perspective, when you consider the consequences of a successful lawsuit by an injured patient, malpractice insurance covrage really doesn't cost that much at all.

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