Malpractice Insurance In West Virginia
As healthcare professionals, you only want to do your very best when it comes to your patients. While you strive for perfection within your working environment and for those patients you handle with great care, things inevitably go wrong.
When they do go wrong, sometimes patients are disgruntled with their experience, or loved ones who’ve lost a family member, will want answers or action taken to get them.
Malpractice insurance is an important coverage and insurance to get for healthcare professionals. While some states may not need all roles within the healthcare industry to have this insurance, many do.
If you’re in West Virginia, then here are some key bits of information you’ll need to know when it comes to getting malpractice insurance for your protection as a healthcare professional.
Understanding malpractice insurance
If you’ve not come across malpractice insurance before, then it’s worth knowing it to be part of a professional liability that most healthcare professionals will need throughout their career success.
This is a type of insurance that helps protect you from any claims that are made against you for malpractice. Whether there are legitimate reasons to do so or not is beside the point. Having the coverage is an important part of ensuring you have the protection for both legal and financial protection.
When things go wrong in a patient’s healthcare, often the finger of blame is pointed at those who have been treating them, even if that’s not always the case. At least with this insurance, you can protect yourself.
The purpose of purchasing malpractice insurance
With the purchase of malpractice insurance, you provide that peace of mind that you’ll need as a healthcare professional. You’re dealing with patients at a greater volume than ever before seen in the healthcare industry, so the margin for error is pin-thin in comparison to previous years gone by.
Being blamed for something that you perhaps have not done can be frustrating, which is why this malpractice insurance is handy to have. For those practicing in West Virginia, it’s good to have the protection you desire, just in case anything were to go terribly wrong and a lawsuit is filed against you.
It’s not surprising though that such claims are made. Unfortunately, around 250,000 people have died due to medical negligence in the UK. That’s why it’s best to have coverage - just in case
The types of malpractice insurance to look for
What types of malpractice should you be looking for when it comes to operating in West Virginia?
West Virginia’s medical malpractice limits when it comes to liability are $1,000,000 per claim and $3,000,000 per policy per year. Again, there are some exceptions to that rule depending on what type of career/role you have. The bigger your responsibilities are, the higher you’ll need that coverage to be.
It’s worth noting that prior to placing a cap of $1,000,000 for non-economic damages in these cases, the cap was later lowered to $250,000 or $500,000 for special cases with adjustment factors too.
You’ve got a selection of options to choose from when purchasing malpractice insurance. With any federal workers in federal healthcare centers, you won’t be liable for civil claims or required to purchase malpractice insurance yourself, as you’ll already be covered.
For policies, they can be acquired as an individual or through a group if desired.
Top Insurance Carriers in West Virginia
- Admiral Insurance Company
- American Casualty Company of Reading, Pennsylvania
- CFC Underwriting Ltd
- CM&F Group
- Columbia Casualty Company
- Coverys
- Coverys Specialty Insurance Company
- Doctors Company Insurance Group
- General Star Indemnity
- Hudson Excess Insurance Company
- Ironshore Specialty Insurance Company
- MAG Mutual Insurance Company
- Medical Protective Company
- National Fire & Marine Insurance Company
- ProAssurance Indemnity Company, Inc.
- ProSelect Insurance Company
- TDC Specialty Insurance Company
Take Action Today
The staff at MedMal Advisors know that it’s not simple to treat patients today. We work with you to find West Virginia medical malpractice coverage that can prepare you (and your staff) for whatever’s ahead.
Whether it’s an error in the office or a frivolous claim, finding the right medical malpractice coverage can go a long way toward settling disputes before they have the chance to turn into more serious financial threats. If you're looking for a medical malpractice insurance broker that will go the extra mile for you, contact us today to get the ball rolling.
GET A QUOTE NOWThe state requirements for West Virginia malpractice insurance
It’s useful to know that depending on what state you practice in as a healthcare professional, the coverage you need will vary depending on your role and whether it’s something that’s required by the state.
For West Virginia, the following limits apply:
- Per occurrence - $1,000,000
- Annual aggregate - $3,000,000
West Virginia is one of those places that doesn’t require physicians to have malpractice insurance. However, that doesn’t stop any healthcare provider that you work for, for you to take this insurance out.
The benefits of having medical malpractice insurance in place
Why should you be getting this medical malpractice in the first place? Here are some of the reasons why you’ll need it.
Misdiagnosis
No healthcare professional wants to find themselves being taken to court over a misdiagnosis, especially if you pride yourself on getting to the crux of the issue for every patient.
Mistakes can happen and things can get missed along the way. After all, healthcare professionals are only human. However, that won’t stop from claims being made by unhappy patients or family members of the patients involved.
Surgical and medication errors
Surgical procedures can be high-pressured and as a result, not all surgical procedures go well. At the same time, there can be many factors that are at play and that can change the direction of the surgery completely.
Medication errors can be common too, leading to patients not getting the right medication they need. Both of these parts of being a healthcare professional can result in legal action being taken.
Financial settlements and damages
Receiving a financial settlement or damages is often the best option for some patients or some family members of patients. With medical malpractice insurance, this can help cover those costs so that you’re not having to fork out a lot of money to resolve the issue at play.
Cover yourself as a healthcare professional in West Virginia
Healthcare professionals should be doing everything they can do to protect themselves so that they can focus on what really matters - their patients!
You should look for the best malpractice insurance on the market and make use of resources like MedMal Advisors. These resources are useful for those who need to find the right coverage to protect themselves and when trying to avoid having their license revoked or otherwise limited.
Regardless of how much experience you have, it won’t be enough should you find yourself in a sticky situation with the patient trying to recover losses or find a guilty culprit.
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 | 153 | $38,950,000 | $254,575 | $4,950,000 | 20 | 3 | 0 |
| 1996 | 118 | $21,780,050 | $184,577 | $1,450,000 | 12 | 2 | 0 |
| 1997 | 130 | $37,508,000 | $288,523 | $3,650,000 | 18 | 4 | 0 |
| 1998 | 148 | $16,266,000 | $109,905 | $995,000 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| 1999 | 134 | $20,531,050 | $153,217 | $995,000 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 2000 | 176 | $41,121,050 | $233,642 | $1,950,000 | 22 | 5 | 0 |
| 2001 | 214 | $54,233,750 | $253,429 | $6,250,000 | 27 | 8 | 1 |
| 2002 | 186 | $41,375,300 | $222,448 | $995,000 | 24 | 0 | 0 |
| 2003 | 125 | $40,007,750 | $320,062 | $1,950,000 | 24 | 3 | 0 |
| 2004 | 90 | $23,114,250 | $256,825 | $1,450,000 | 10 | 4 | 0 |
| 2005 | 84 | $19,131,250 | $227,753 | $2,450,000 | 9 | 2 | 0 |
| 2006 | 88 | $19,803,250 | $225,037 | $1,950,000 | 8 | 3 | 0 |
| 2007 | 79 | $23,220,750 | $293,934 | $2,150,000 | 14 | 3 | 0 |
| 2008 | 96 | $23,437,250 | $244,138 | $1,650,000 | 17 | 3 | 0 |
| 2009 | 86 | $18,178,500 | $211,378 | $995,000 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| 2010 | 164 | $18,895,100 | $115,214 | $995,000 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| 2011 | 167 | $27,817,550 | $166,572 | $3,750,000 | 16 | 1 | 0 |
| 2012 | 80 | $16,563,250 | $207,041 | $995,000 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 2013 | 91 | $25,207,250 | $277,003 | $1,450,000 | 15 | 2 | 0 |
| 2014 | 100 | $27,894,500 | $278,945 | $995,000 | 16 | 0 | 0 |
| 2015 | 126 | $45,814,750 | $363,609 | $5,750,000 | 23 | 3 | 2 |
| 2016 | 112 | $33,090,250 | $295,449 | $2,650,000 | 20 | 3 | 0 |
| 2017 | 127 | $35,812,500 | $281,988 | $1,450,000 | 24 | 1 | 0 |
| 2018 | 104 | $35,076,500 | $337,274 | $2,550,000 | 18 | 3 | 0 |
| 2019 | 74 | $27,609,500 | $373,101 | $2,950,000 | 14 | 2 | 0 |
| 2020 | 75 | $34,412,500 | $458,833 | $11,500,000 | 14 | 2 | 1 |
| 2021 | 74 | $30,730,050 | $415,271 | $5,850,000 | 8 | 3 | 2 |
| 2022 | 104 | $48,661,250 | $467,897 | $8,450,000 | 20 | 5 | 2 |
| 2023 | 56 | $12,582,500 | $224,688 | $745,000 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | 51 | $18,146,250 | $355,809 | $1,950,000 | 10 | 2 | 0 |
When purchasing malpractice insurance, be sure to do so before practicing in West Virginia.