Medical Malpractice Insurance

Annually, and any time the practice changes what it does. Adding a procedure, adding an advanced practice provider you supervise, opening a second location, or treating patients by telehealth across state lines all change the exposure being rated. Facility and credentialing requirements move too, and those are usually the practical floor on the limit. One California reason to look yearly: the MICRA cap on noneconomic damages rises every January under Assembly Bill 35, so the ceiling that shaped a limit decision in one year is higher the next. Current as of August 2026.

To the retroactive date on your declarations, and no further. A claims-made policy names a date, and an incident that occurred before it is outside the coverage even if the claim arrives while the policy is live. Moving carriers can preserve that date through prior acts coverage, sometimes called nose coverage, so continuous practice stays continuously covered. Losing the retroactive date is one of the more expensive mistakes available when switching, and it is easy to do by accident. Send us the expiring declarations page and we will check the date carries across.

On a claims-made policy, the answer depends on what you buy at the end. A claims-made form responds to claims reported while it is in force, so cancelling it without more can leave the years you practiced unprotected. Tail coverage, also called an extended reporting period, keeps that reporting window open after the policy ends. The alternative is prior acts coverage from the incoming carrier, which picks up the earlier years instead. Tail is usually priced as a multiple of the expiring premium, and some policies grant it at no cost on retirement, death, or disability after a stated number of years. Ask before you need it.

There is no standard figure. The range is usually set by your specialty and the procedures you perform, and by the requirements of any hospital, facility, or credentialing body you work through. It also depends on whether the policy is written on a claims-made or occurrence basis, how any tail is handled, and the claim severity pattern in your field. Facility and credentialing requirements are often the practical floor. Because these are specific to the practice, review your individual needs with a licensed agent or qualified advisor.

The professional act is covered. Most of what sits around it is not. Criminal acts and sexual misconduct allegations are excluded, though many forms fund a defense up to a small sublimit until the conduct is established. Punitive damages awarded against an insured are not insurable in California. A licensing board inquiry is a separate matter from a patient lawsuit and is usually reached only through an administrative defense sublimit, if the policy offers one at all. Patient record exposure under HIPAA and the Confidentiality of Medical Information Act belongs to cyber, employment claims to EPLI, and a slip in the waiting room to general liability.