As little as twenty-five years ago, malpractice suits were few and far between. In those days, when litigation was filed against a hospital, physician, nurse technician, or any of the allied health care practitioners, the suit was ordinarily the result of an extremely serious mishap, and even then only after careful and painstaking consideration. Furthermore, attorneys were not particularly eager to enter into such litigation without studying all the circumstances diligently and making sure of all the facts surrounding the situation. There were very few suits filed ten, fifteen, or twenty years after an occurrence.

These conditions have changed. Frivolous, unjustified, or vaguely-worded suits are commonplace, and frequently courts rule in favor of claimants with awards far beyond the realm of rationality. In addition, while in the past such a procedure would have been considered outrageous, even student nurses–before they have achieved the full status of a registered nurse’s level of responsibility—are subject to malpractice suits.

It would be difficult, indeed, to pinpoint the onset of the trend toward wholesale litigation, enormous awards for damages, and the encouragement of legal contingency fees. No segment of American business is more aware than the insurance industry of the problems currently faced by the health care professions and allied services. And since most health care practitioners are protected by at least minimal professional liability insurance coverage, the insurance industry has incurred losses that run into billions of dollars. Nevertheless, in spite of the posture of many courts, there is no doubt that persons in the medical and allied professions must have the protection of liability insurance; and, in turn, insurance carriers must continue to make such coverage available.

Generally speaking, professional liability insurance is written in amounts of coverage planned to provide complete protection in most occurrences of malpractice charges, including damages, legal fees, and court costs. A top-quality professional liability policy, therefore, must be offered with a high limit of $1,000,000 per occurrence and $3,000,000 “aggregate” maximum for any single year. “Aggregate” means that the policy will pay up to the higher maximum in the event that more than one malpractice suit is filed during that year.

Ordinarily, malpractice litigation in the past has been properly and effectively defended on the bases of accepted practices as supported by expert peer testimony and under terms established by the policy as written. In recent years, however, some courts have taken the stance that certain expressly excluded conditions should not have been named as exclusions, even though such exclusions were previously acceptable. In other situations, practitioners have been found guilty of malpractice for prescribing and/or administering pharmaceuticals commonly used within a given time frame but discovered (sometimes years later to produce deleterious side-effects which were previously undetected.

Court findings of this nature have created understandable confusion for health care providers and the insurance industry alike. It is certain, of course, that individuals in the health care field cannot long survive professionally without the protection of liability insurance. This fact is recognized by insurance carriers, although it is well known within the industry that more than fifty casualty insurance companies have been forced out of business by court decisions.

Prior to the mid-1970’s, most insurance carriers who underwrote professional liability policies wrote such coverages on what is called “occurrence form”. This meant, in fundamental terms, that the insured individual was protected far into the future (even after the insurance had lapsed), as long as the “incident” (upon which a charge of malpractice was based) occurred while the policy was in force. From the end of the 70’s and continuing to the present, many insurance companies have been compelled by circumstances to write professional liability policies on the “claims-made” basis, which means that although the protective coverages may remain the same, benefits will be paid only on claims which are made while the policy is actually in force. This change was not accomplished in a sudden, predetermined, industry-wide decision, but rather company-by-company, as individual carriers discovered for themselves that such defensive action was necessary.

Maginnis & Associates, Inc., of Chicago, is one of the most experienced and best-known firms providing and administering professional liability insurance plans for nurses and allied health care practitioners. The company has specialized in such programs for nearly forty years.

Fortunately, the policies offered by Maginnis & Associates retain the “occurrence form”, which assures long-term protection for policyholders.

Maginnis and Associates, who administer Rolf Institute programs, will welcome any questions you may have about Professional Liability Insurance Plan. If you want to know the full details of the plan or if you have questions about how it works, contact:

MAGINNIS & ASSOCIATES, INC.
332 S. Michigan Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 6064 USA

In Illinois 1-800-621-6585
Others 1-800-621-3008Liability Insurance Essential to Professional Security