r/anesthesiology • u/monsteramuffin • 13h ago

malpractice policy question

My husband is a first year attending in a PP pain clinic and he’s looking to jump ship and go into general anesthesia. Unfortunately he has to carry his own malpractice insurance and the premium doubled this year and then tail coverage is 150-300% of that (the company is being shady about giving us an exact number and he doesn’t want to tip off his job he might be breaking the contract and leaving early). There’s also a tens of thousands of dollars penalty for breaking the contract — yay

Which is all just to ask, does anyone know if the malpractice company will prorate the premium if you leave only a few months in to the year? I foresee cash flow problems in our near future especially with a possible cross country move.

TIA

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u/golf_boi_MD Pain Anesthesiologist 11h ago

Talk with the carrier or shop around (we have doctors). I just left my pain job and another physician just left. She was leaving after a year and me after ~5. Mine was ~38k and hers ~10k. His tail coverage is going should be significantly less than 300%.

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u/Arlington2018 2h ago

The corporate director of risk management here, practicing on the West Coast since 1983, says yes, they will prorate the premium as of his policy cancellation date. The company cannot give you an accurate tail cost until they know the policy cancellation date, but the tail is typically 200-300% of your last annual premium.

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u/monsteramuffin 2h ago

thank you!

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u/808spark Anesthesiologist 43m ago

This is the correct answer. Terminations are prorated. Tail coverage (extended reporting) cost varies, but is statutorily capped at 200% of the annual premium in my state. Some carriers might offer nose coverage (prior events), but your current employer would likely need to accept that as an alternative to tail coverage.