Under Florida law, there are four different ways to meet or exempt yourself from the state’s financial responsibility requirements. Purchasing a medical malpractice insurance policy is just one of those ways.
Each of the other ways involves self-insuring your liability exposure arising from your practice.
The good news is - it's possible to save money by self insuring!
Self insurance, commonly called, "going bare," refers to doctors who no longer choose to purchase malpractice insurance to meet their financial responsibility requirement. They choose to meet it themselves.
Unlike what many would have you believe, those “bare” physicians who self-insure are not running around recklessly with no protection. Rather, they have decided that the suit of clothes being sold by insurance companies doesn’t fit, looks old, and costs WAY more than the value it provides.
When you responsibly self-insure, you’re taking your insurance risk into your hands, just like 90% of Fortune 500 companies do.
Self-insuring is not complicated nor difficult. Under Florida law, a physician can satisfy his or her financial responsibility requirements by posting a sign in his office stating that he or she does not have malpractice insurance (or by giving the patient a copy of the notice) and making an election to self-insure with the Department of Health. Under this notice, you agree to pay any judgment against you up to an amount of $100,000 if you do not have hospital admission privileges or $250,000 if you do have privileges.
Your comfort level with self-insuring depends on how often you think you might be sued, the cost of the malpractice insurance, and the results of the claim. If you do decide to self-insure, however, you should also make sure you’ve taken the following steps:
First, ensure that you have taken adequate steps to protect your personal assets (as you should have done by now anyway).
Second, purchase a legal defense insurance policy to ensure that you can vigorously defend any claims. That’s where we come in. Gulf Atlantic is one of the first prepaid legal insurance companies established specifically to protect Florida physicians who’ve elected to self insure, (or go bare). We’ve been in the medical malpractice insurance business for over 50 years, and have been a prominent prepaid legal provider for physicians since 2003.
Gulf Atlantic’s prepaid legal insurance policy will cost between 15% and 20% of the cost of a traditional malpractice insurance policy. If you get sued, you may have to pay the cost of a settlement or judgment (up to the maximum of $250,000) but you control your defense and the ability to either settle a bad claim or aggressively defend against a frivolous claim.
Want to see your potential savings? Get a Quick Quote to see how a Gulf Atlantic prepaid legal policy compares to your malpractice insurance. This will show your annual savings before settlement or judgement costs. If you'd like a personalized premium indication and a comparison of estimated savings including claims costs, complete and return our Premium Indication/Comparison application today!
