Alaska Medical Malpractice Insurance
Individual & Practice Professional Liability Insurance
Alaska Medical Malpractice Insurance Coverage
Coverage Requirements
In the State of Alaska, medical malpractice insurance coverage is not required of physicians. However, many healthcare facilities have minimum coverage requirements for physicians with visiting privileges. Also, many health insurance companies mandate that a physician obtain med mal insurance to participate in their coverage. And, whether you face either of these requirements or not, most physicians in Alaska still choose to get medical liability coverage so they don’t have to potentially navigate a lawsuit alone nor pay expenses, including lawyers, settlements and/or damage awards out-of-pocket.
The most common
limits of coverage are $1M/$3M. This means that healthcare providers usually purchase medical malpractice insurance with coverage up to $1M per claim, and $3M aggregate. “Aggregate” means that the policy will pay out up to a total of $3M in one policy year.
What is the Med Mal Climate Like in Alaska?
In a positive move for healthcare providers, Alaska has enacted some tort reform, including a $250,000 cap on non-economic damages in a medical malpractice case. However, if the case involves wrongful death or “severe permanent physical impairment,” the non-economic damages cap bumps up to $400,000.
What Kind of Coverage is Available in Alaska?
Both Claims-Made and Occurrence-type coverage policies are available in the state.
Who Can We Get You Malpractice Insurance Coverage with in the State of Alaska?
As a medical malpractice insurance agency, we have access to all of the major carriers in Alaska, including surplus lines/non-admitted carriers.
Cost of Malpractice Insurance
The cost of medical malpractice insurance in Alaska is not at either end of the spectrum in terms of cost –many states are more expensive and many are less expensive. And, rates do not tend to vary wildly within the state, depending on which county you practice in, as they can in some states, like New York.
In general, rates in Alaska for a first year, claims-made medical malpractice insurance policy, for an Internal Medicine physician who is claim free, can range from $2,500-$4,000/year.
How to Lower the Cost of Your Medical Malpractice Insurance Coverage
When applying for coverage, our agents will ask you several questions to see if you might qualify for any discounts. Often, we are able to offer providers discounts for being New-to-Practice, Claim Free, and/or having recently completed qualifying risk management CMEs, among others.
How Can We Help You and Why Should You Choose Us?
Nexus Insurance Services is a medical malpractice insurance broker, established in 2004. As a broker, we have access to many insurance companies and we can efficiently shop the market for you, reaching out to multiple insurance companies simultaneously, to get you the most competitive pricing. And, since we specialize in med mal insurance, we can provide coverage for both medical providers and practices of all sizes.
Finally, if you own a practice or need coverage for a practice, in addition to providing medical malpractice insurance, we can also provide general liability and cyber liability coverage. Let us know if we can provide this coverage for you, too.
Do you need coverage in Alaska? If so, click
here to request a free quote.
Additional Resources:
Alaska Statutes Section 09.55.940
Alaska State Medical Association
