How much control does the government have over malpractice insurance policies?
Does our government determine the guidelines for malpractice insurance or is this strictly up to the Insurance companies and the states?
Tags: control, Government, Insurance, Malpractice, Much, Over, Policies
Insurance (so far) is largely regulated at the state level.
It’s up to each state. Sort of. Any insurance policy sold in a state, including medical malpractice, well, the policy must comply with the rules of that state, be subject to state laws, and the premiums approved either explicitly or implicitly, by the state insurance commissioner.
HOWEVER. The new “hot” thing in med mal, is offshore ‘reciprocal exchanges’. It’s not ACTUALLY insurance, and because of that, they can get around the regulation from the states. It’s also moderately cheaper for the doctors.
Regarding coverages, the insurance companies, for the most part, are allowed to design exactly how the policy forms are written – as long as they still comply with state law.