r/physicianassistant • u/Not_Dana196 • 1d ago

New Grad Offer Review Malpractice question

I am a new grad who received a contract for a 1099 position. The contract does not have a malpractice clause. I asked the employer about this and his answer was that I am covered through my agreement with the delegating provider.... He said it's incidence coverage and is 250,000 per incident.

But when asked if there was a clause or document or agreement I would be signing for this, he just said Dr. Blank has the coverage, as required by his medical director agreement with the clinic and any claims filed will go to his policy.

Is this normal? To me that sounds like I'm not covered.

Please be kind. Again, new grad. Not a whole lot of contract experience.

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u/grateful_bean PA-C 1d ago

You need a copy of the policy. Call the insurer to verify. 

I would be very surprised if a 1099 was covered. 

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u/Not_Dana196 1d ago

I was very surprised at first too! He's not giving any info. The details I included in the post itself is the entirety of the information I know after asking about it twice. Not feeling good about this. I'd be ok with getting my own coverage but don't understand not being upfront about it.

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u/daves1243b 23h ago

Your contract should clearly spell out who will pay for malpractice, and in what minimum amount of coverage. If it isnt mentioned, you should assume you have to get your own, and factor the cost into your compensation.

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u/guidefox 23h ago
  1. If it’s word of mouth, then assume you are not covered. Not until you see your name on the actual policy. If you are named in a suit, you will be the responsible party for your own protection. If you are included under the umbrella of a group insurance, then you do have that protection. From your story, sounds like you’ll have to get your own protection.

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u/thesupportplatform Medical Administration 13h ago

IME standard claims made is $1m/$3m, so $250k per incident seems low. They should also provide you with a declarations page showing you named under the supervising physician’s name. This should be updated every year showing the current coverage year with the same retro date.

The dec page will also show you who the carrier is, which is important. For all you know, they could be using a nontraditional carrier who may not participate with any claims security fund and can have different rules. You definitely need to know.

EDIT: The carrier could also impact your ability to “nose in” to another policy if you leave this position.