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Nexus Insurance Services Launches Self-serve Short-term Policies for Med Students & Residents

Mon, 07 Aug 2023 16:26:26 GMT

Students & Residents: Get Your Short-term

Medical Malpractice Insurance Today!

Nexus Insurance Services is pleased to announce the launch of our self-serve portal for medical students and residents to purchase short-term medical malpractice insurance policies!

In under 10 minutes, students and residents can now purchase policies to cover their work during rotations, internships, and externships in 21 different states. The program is open to both foreign medical graduates and US trainees and can cover observational work for up to 12 months or hands-on (surgical) work for up to 60 days.

Get covered today! It's quick and easy!

Changes Coming to Nevada Medical Malpractice Laws

krleander@gmail.com (Katie Leander) — Thu, 20 Jul 2023 20:06:13 GMT

Jan 1, 2024 Will Bring Significant Changes

In another blow to physicians, the State of Nevada recently passed AB404, changing the medical malpractice landscape in the state by increasing the caps on noneconomic damages, among other significant changes.

Beginning next year, on January 1, 2024, the cap on noneconomic damages will increase in Nevada from $350,000 to $435,000 and it will continue to increase annually, by $80,000/year, until it reaches a cap of $750,000 in 2028. After that, it increases by a flat rate of 2.1 percent a year. Thus, over the next four years, the cap will more than double, most likely leaving physicians in the state having to pay higher premiums, due to the potential for radically higher payouts in medical malpractice cases.

In addition, AB404 also expands Nevada’s statute of limitations from one year to two years. (However, the three-year maximum for undiscovered injuries remains as-is.) And, the final significant change to come out of AB404 is that the current tiered sliding scale limit on contingency fees for attorneys will be replaced with a flat 35% limit.

For more detailed information, you can view AB404 here .

2023 MICRA Changes in California

krleander@gmail.com (Katie Leander) — Tue, 18 Jul 2023 19:48:15 GMT

What California Providers Need to Know this Year

This year, several MICRA changes in California have been rolled out. Every California health care provider should be aware of these changes since they can have a significant impact if they are (or become) involved in a medical malpractice lawsuit.

First, what is MICRA?

MICRA stands for Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act. The MICRA Act was a statute enacted by the California State Legislature in September of 1975. The goal of the act was to lower medical malpractice liability insurance premiums for medical providers in the state by lowering their potential tort liability.

What has happened?

The Act was recently updated (or “modernized”) through AB 35. Per the State of California’s press release earlier this year, AB 35 “...makes two significant changes to the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA) by restructuring MICRA’s limit on attorney fees and raising MICRA’s cap on noneconomic damages.” The bill was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom on May 23, 2022.

What has changed this year ?

As of Jan 1, 2023, the most impactful change for California providers is that potential awards for noneconomic damages have increased and will continue to increase over the next 10 years. Previously, noneconomic damages were capped at $250,000.

Per the California Medical Association :

Cases not involving a patient death will have a limit of $350k…with an incremental increase over the next 10 years to $750k and a 2.0% annual inflationary adjustment thereafter.
Cases involving a patient death will have a limit of $500k…with an incremental increase over the next 10 years to $1 million and a 2.0% annual inflationary adjustment thereafter.

In addition, the limits on contingency fees for plaintiffs' attorneys have been restructured from a four-tier system to a two-tier system that allows for increased plaintiffs’ attorney fees if the case goes to trial.

For more information about the recent MICRA changes from the California Medical Association, click here .

Moonlighting

krleander@gmail.com (Katie Leander) — Mon, 20 Mar 2023 18:48:25 GMT

What You Need to Know

For a variety of reasons, many healthcare professionals seek out secondary employment –also known as “moonlighting.” If you are considering taking on a secondary role, there are many important factors to consider, especially when it comes to malpractice insurance.

Below are some of the most common misconceptions we hear from our clients.

All moonlighting roles are considered part-time.

FALSE.

In standard medical malpractice insurance policies, anything 20 hours or more per week is usually considered full-time. Thus, it is important to know how many hours you will be expected to work –if it is 20 hours or more per week, this will most likely mean you will need to pay for a full-priced insurance policy.

2. My medical malpractice insurance policy from my full-time job will cover my moonlighting work.

FALSE.

Medical malpractice insurance policies usually only cover a provider for one role at one institution. It should not be assumed that a policy you have for one job will cover you at another job. We’d be happy to review your policy to see if that is the case.

3. I can only moonlight in my specialty.

FALSE.

There are many moonlighting opportunities out there and physicians do not need to stick to their specialty. Common moonlighting positions available include: serving as a medical director, or working in home healthcare, medi-spas, urgent care clinics, or correctional facilities.

4. I will need to get separate moonlighting insurance.

This is most likely TRUE –but contact us today to discuss your unique situation and find out.

It's Match Day!

krleander@gmail.com (Katie Leander) — Fri, 17 Mar 2023 17:33:22 GMT

Happy Match Day to All of the

Medical Students Across the US!

We'd like to say congratulations to all of the fourth-year medical students on this major milestone in your medical career!

What is Match Day?

For those who may not know, Match Day is the day when 4th year medical students find out where they will be “matched” for their residency (ie, where they will continue training in their medical specialty for the next 3-7 years). The event always takes place at exactly 11:00 a.m. (Central time) on the third Friday in March.

For a list of how long each medical specialty's residency is, the American Medical Association includes a list in this article.

For more information on Match Day, view the press release from The National Resident Matching Program® (NRMP®) and data on the program here .

Off-label Weight Loss Drug Prescribing

krleander@gmail.com (Katie Leander) — Tue, 14 Mar 2023 17:55:59 GMT

What Are the Risks and What Kind of Medical Malpractice Insurance Coverage Do I Need?

Over the last year or so, several new drugs have made a big impact in the weight loss world, the most popular one being Ozempic. While many of these drugs were initially developed to help treat Type 2 Diabetes, they are now being heavily prescribed for weight loss.

New Opportunities

Given the success of these drugs for easy weight loss, many opportunities have arisen for providers, and essentially, a new market has been created for these drugs. We are seeing new weight loss clinics open, internal medicine and family medicine physicians prescribing for weight loss in their practices, and medi-spas and fitness centers adding these treatments to their offerings.

My Medical Malpractice Insurance Covers This, Right? Wrong.

The use of Ozempic, for example, for weight loss is considered off-label . And, typically, medical malpractice insurance policies do NOT cover providers for off-label prescribing. Therefore, it is imperative that providers find out if their use of these drugs for weight loss are considered off-label or not and if they are currently covered for this type of care/prescribing.

It is also important to note that not all carriers provide this kind of coverage. Thus, even though the liability is low, a provider’s current medical malpractice insurance carrier may not be able to cover them for this. (Or, sometimes they are willing to cover, but at the provider’s specialty rating, which tends to be very expensive.) Thus, the provider might need to purchase a separate, stand alone weight loss policy.

What Should I Do If I Am Already Prescribing in an Off-label Capacity?

We’d be happy to review your current insurance policy to see if you are covered or not. And, if you need coverage, we can assist. We have relationships with several carriers who are willing to cover off-label prescribing. Policies are typically easy to get and are inexpensive.

Additional resources:

From the FDA: Understanding Unapproved Use of Approved Drugs "Off Label"
Article from the Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Ten Common Questions (and Their Answers) About Off-label Drug Use

With Nexus, we can get you quotes for coverage in as little as 2-3 business days and in some cases, the next business day.

What To Do If Your Medical Malpractice Insurance Is Non-Renewed

krleander@gmail.com (Katie Leander) — Mon, 06 Mar 2023 22:18:38 GMT

How To Secure New Coverage ASAP

A healthcare provider can be non-renewed for their medical malpractice insurance for many reasons –and oftentimes, it may not be your fault.

Some of the top reasons for non-renewal include:

Number or severity of claims
The insurance company is eliminating a specialty that they no longer want to cover
The insurance company decides to no longer provide medical malpractice insurance, in general
The insurance company is being shut down by the regulators

Don’t panic. Getting coverage after a non-renewal, no matter the reason, is possible.

How to proceed:

Work with an insurance agency to find new coverage.

Working with Nexus Insurance Services can save you both time and money. We can shop the market for you with one application. As an agency, we can also compare quotes from insurance companies and ask them to provide more competitive pricing to match your best offer.

Save your CMEs –especially ones related to risk management.

Oftentimes, risk management CMEs completed within the past two years can get providers a discount on their medical liability insurance. It is always worth mentioning these credits to your agent if you have them. Or, ask if your agent has access to CMEs that could get you a discount.

Make sure the non-renewing company provides you with an up-to-date loss run .

When applying for new coverage, most insurance companies will request this. A loss run is a list of any open or closed med mal cases you have had during your time with the carrier.

If you are being non-renewed due to a claim(s) make sure you can provide a detailed narrative of the claim(s) you have had in the past 10 years to your agent.

A good insurance agent will want to present your case in the most professional and positive light possible. They are your advocate. It is not impossible to get coverage if you are non-renewed due to a claim(s). Nexus Insurance specializes in getting coverage for providers who were non-renewed due to claims.

Finally, additional documents you should have handy when seeking new medical malpractice insurance:

Up-to-date copy of your CV
A copy of the non-renewal notice from your current company. (Your agent may want to review this.)

With Nexus, we can get you quotes for coverage in as little as 2-3 business days and in some cases, the next business day.

Medical Malpractice Insurance for Moonlighters

Mon, 16 Aug 2021 16:53:16 GMT

According to a new poll taken by the Washington Post and Schar School, approx a third of all U.S. Workers under 40-years-old have considered changing careers during the last year of the Covid-19 pandemic. Nothing like a world-wide pandemic to help you decide what is important in life. Those of us that provide services to workers in the healthcare industry have seen first hand how the stresses and strains affect front-line providers. And while some healthcare workers are leaving outright, there are also plenty of providers that are trying out new part-time jobs and moonlighting as a change of scenery or to earn extra money to save for a career change. At Nexus Insurance Agency, we provide you with the information you need so that you know what to expect to pay for separate, moonlighting medical malpractice insurance and how to ensure that you are protected.

Our Expert Weighs In

The majority of medical-malpractice insurance companies consider anyone that works more than 20 hours per week to be full time. This was a huge shock to a physician client of mine that recently emailed me about a new moonlighting job she was applying for and she wanted to know if we could just add coverage for the new job to her current policy.

Unfortunately, as I explained to the doctor, her current coverage was under a group policy that only covered her for the work she does at her full-time job at the group practice. As we set out to find her a new policy, the client explained to me that she was going to work 3-4 evenings per week at a local immediate care clinic and probably one 8 hour shift each weekend, or about 25 hours per week total. My client was excited about the new job but confused as to why the quotes were so much higher than expected and why they were all quotes for full-time coverage. She was convinced that I had misunderstood her and the responsibilities of the new job. That was when I had to explain to my confused client that the insurance companies that cover physicians consider anything over 20 hours per week to be full-time. Unfortunately, this meant that the estimated 25 hours that she was planning to work every week would put her in the full-time category for coverage and was too expensive.

After viewing both the full-time and the part-time rates, and seeing the big difference in both the rates, first-hand my client went back to and renegotiated the number of hours she would be available per week. She let her new boss know that she would be capping her number of hours per week to maintain part-time coverage with her insurance company.

What You Need to Know

Knowing the difference between full-time and part-time coverage is very important. Purchasing a part-time policy can result in a significant cost savings vs full-time a full-time policy. Before you make a decision, review the various rates and go over your options with a knowledgeable, licensed medical malpractice insurance agent.

If you would like to discuss the differences between full-time and part-time rates or review your options, please contact Nexus Insurance Agency directly here . or call us, toll free at 1-877-465-7478. We would love to speak with you.