Malpractice Insurance for Healthcare Professionals in Kentucky

For healthcare professionals, it’s imperative that you’re protecting yourself regardless of how many years you have of experience to date. Mistakes can happen, errors can occur, and a surprising turn of events can occur whereby you find yourself being accused of malpractice.

When you’re helping so many people on a daily basis, it can prove to be both a physically and mentally demanding job. It’s important that you at least have insurance coverage for malpractice so that while you protect yourself, you’re also protecting yourself from any unwarranted claims made against you.

As a healthcare professional in Kentucky, it’s important that you know how to protect yourself properly, understand the state requirements, how malpractice insurance benefits you, and why you should have it in place.

Definition of Malpractice Insurance

It’s a type of insurance that falls under the category of professional liability. Healthcare professionals should take out this type of insurance to help protect them from a number of legal problems that can occur when dealing with a patient’s health.

Often enough, things can go wrong and sometimes that result might not be to the satisfaction of the patient or the family of the patient. Therefore, it’s good to have malpractice insurance in place.

Why Should You Have Malpractice Insurance?

With all healthcare professionals working in environments that are challenging at the best of times, the margin of error for mistakes is incredibly slim. So when things do go wrong, fingers are pointed and blame is often accused by some people who are in fact not to blame at all.

With medical errors being common across the US, it’s often the case for medical negligence to be pursued by the patient specifically or the loved ones of a patient who may no longer be able to fend for themselves whether due to the impact of the procedure or death.

It’s important that as a healthcare professional in Kentucky, you’re getting the coverage you require to keep yourself protected from the various claims that might be made against you over the length of your career.

Top Malpractice Insurance Carriers in Kentucky

What Types of Malpractice Insurance Should You Look Out For?

• The limits of liability in Kentucky are $1,000,000 per claim and an annual aggregate cap of $3,000,000.
• Kentucky is considered one of the lowest states for malpractice insurance premiums in comparison to other states.
• You can purchase the policy individually or as a group through a private insurer.
• Healthcare professionals working in federal health centers are granted immunity from civil lawsuits, so malpractice insurance isn’t required.
• Insurance can also be purchased through a medical risk retention group or obtained through an employer such as a hospital or physician’s office.

The State Requirements for Kentucky Malpractice Insurance

Kentucky doesn’t mandate physicians to purchase medical malpractice insurance. However, you may still face requirements from healthcare facilities and insurance plans to carry coverage.

Liability claim limits:

• Per occurrence: $1,000,000
• Annual aggregate: $3,000,000

Like many other states, your job type or work environment may require higher claim limits, so it’s best to check in advance. Getting the wrong coverage and needing to change it later can be frustrating.

Claim Data

The National Practitioner Databank (NPDB) is a repository of medical malpractice claim information for healthcare providers in the United States. Following is a summary of data where we can observe the number of malpractice payments, adverse actions, and other disciplinary actions taken against healthcare professionals.

Year	Payment Count	Total Payments	Average Payment	Max Payment	Over 500K Count	Over 1M Count	Over 5M Count
1995	157	$38,688,500	$246,424	$2,950,000	21	6	0
1996	140	$32,042,750	$228,877	$2,450,000	17	6	0
1997	164	$28,946,750	$176,505	$1,450,000	11	3	0
1998	134	$28,476,500	$212,511	$1,950,000	16	2	0
1999	163	$24,316,250	$149,179	$995,000	12	0	0
2000	191	$32,633,750	$170,857	$1,650,000	17	4	0
2001	190	$33,241,000	$174,953	$2,750,000	14	2	0
2002	277	$45,487,350	$164,214	$4,850,000	21	4	0
2003	223	$46,883,300	$210,239	$2,450,000	25	5	0
2004	168	$37,390,750	$222,564	$1,350,000	20	2	0
2005	179	$44,186,250	$246,851	$2,350,000	24	5	0
2006	183	$50,066,500	$273,587	$2,950,000	29	2	0
2007	135	$46,495,500	$344,411	$7,950,000	19	6	1
2008	145	$43,764,500	$301,824	$5,950,000	25	4	1
2009	128	$39,256,750	$306,693	$1,950,000	27	3	0
2010	111	$30,988,250	$279,173	$3,150,000	17	2	0
2011	126	$37,173,750	$295,030	$5,950,000	17	5	1
2012	120	$37,585,750	$313,215	$5,150,000	22	1	1
2013	116	$31,199,250	$268,959	$995,000	21	0	0
2014	145	$46,249,750	$318,964	$2,250,000	31	6	0
2015	118	$38,259,050	$324,229	$2,450,000	21	4	0
2016	112	$31,864,000	$284,500	$5,250,000	16	2	1
2017	120	$42,238,350	$351,986	$5,750,000	19	3	2
2018	129	$50,333,250	$390,180	$4,650,000	28	6	0
2019	119	$34,329,500	$288,483	$1,450,000	22	1	0
2020	91	$34,648,250	$380,750	$6,450,000	22	4	1
2021	103	$34,963,500	$339,451	$4,950,000	18	3	0
2022	133	$46,034,750	$346,126	$2,450,000	27	5	0
2023	155	$70,477,500	$454,694	$4,450,000	36	11	0
2024	141	$70,470,000	$499,787	$8,750,000	40	5	2

The Benefits of Having Medical Malpractice Insurance in Place

Insurance in general is an important cover to have for yourself, but here are some of the benefits that’ll sway you to get it sooner rather than later:

• Surgical and Medication Errors:

  Whether it’s a surgery that’s gone wrong or medication that’s inaccurately distributed, these are common causes of legal action.

• Misdiagnosis:

  A misdiagnosis can be devastating, especially when treatment could have differed. Even if it’s an honest mistake, it may not be seen that way by others.

• Financial Settlements and Damages:

  Sometimes monetary settlements are better than court proceedings. Having insurance can ease that financial burden.

Cover Yourself as a Healthcare Professional in Kentucky

As a healthcare professional within Kentucky, it’s important to take advantage of the low premiums for malpractice insurance. While you may consider yourself an expert in your field, it’s essential you’re protecting yourself where possible.

Even the best physicians, surgeons, and doctors can make mistakes, which is why insurance is good to have in place—even if you never use it.

Be sure to use the best resources out there when sourcing your malpractice insurance. This includes MedMal Advisors, who are great for those looking for malpractice insurance, specifically in Kentucky.

Understand the importance of malpractice insurance, and if you don’t have it, you could leave yourself vulnerable. Not only that, but your license might be at risk because of it.