Malpractice Insurance for Doctors & Physicians in Kentucky

How to buy malpractice insurance in Kentucky.

The best way to buy malpractice coverage is to work with a reputable malpractice insurance broker in Kentucky who can generate multiple quotes. Your broker will walk you through the lengthy insurance application and underwriting process. Click to get medical malpractice insurance quotes from every major Kentucky malpractice insurance company.

Typically, the malpractice insurance purchasing process goes like this:

1. Submit your information for your free medical malpractice insurance quote from every major insurance company in Kentucky.
2. One of our veteran malpractice insurance agents who specializes in the Kentucky market will contact you to learn more about your specific needs.
3. We shop your coverage to every major insurance company in Kentucky.
4. We present you with a number of insurance quotes and give you the information necessary to make an educated and informed decision. Don’t worry. We’re here every step of the way, helping you get the best price with the best company.

At renewal time, we restart the process of shopping your coverage among every major carrier to keep your policy properly priced.

How to save money on your malpractice insurance.

• The easiest way to save money on your medical malpractice insurance policy is by working with a broker who has the access to generate quotes from every major insurance company, offering an accurate view of the marketplace. As one of the top brokers in Kentucky, we can guide you through the application and underwriting process so you’re confident you secured the best price with the right insurer for your situation.
• The most common limits in Kentucky are $1 million/$3 million. Limits of liability play a major role in determining the overall cost of your policy. Some companies will offer lower limits to save you money. We don’t recommend this. We want your risks fully indemnified so you never have to pay an award out of pocket. Let us save you money by shopping your coverage rather than skimp on protection.
• Check out our 7 secrets your medical malpractice insurance agent won’t tell you page to get insider information on buying coverage in Kentucky.

Medical malpractice requirements in Kentucky.

Limits of Liability: The most common limits of liability in Kentucky are $1 million per claim with an annual aggregate cap of $3 million.

Most hospitals require a physician carry malpractice insurance prior to granting admitting privileges. Some of the hospital systems requiring this include, but are not limited to, Norton in Louisville, University of Kentucky Albert B. Chandler Hospital in Lexington and St. Elizabeth in Edgewood.

Best Medical malpractice insurance companies in Kentucky.

1. Medical Protective
2. The Doctors Company
3. NORCAL
4. ProAssurance
5. ISMIE

Why partner with Cunningham Group?

Partnering with Cunningham Group will give you a full view of the Kentucky marketplace.. Our veteran insurance agents average 10+ years of industry experience. Let us help you secure medical malpractice insurance quotes from every major insurance company in Kentucky.

Brief History and other important facts of medical malpractice insurance in Kentucky.

Unlike many other states, Kentucky has not been able to pass many reforms to its tort law or medical liability system. This has sometimes led to large awards in court. In recent years, claims in Kentucky have generally fallen in number, but not as quickly as in many other parts of the country.

Tort Reform in Kentucky

Reforms in Kentucky have been attempted many times, but without much success. Though the Bluegrass State managed to pass the Kentucky Medical Malpractice Act of 1976 in response to the medical malpractice crisis of the 1970s, most of its provisions were quickly ruled unconstitutional by the Kentucky Supreme Court. These provisions included a cap on noneconomic damages, creation of a patient compensation fund, a requirement that physicians carry insurance and creation of a joint underwriting association for physicians who had difficulty in obtaining policies at reasonable rates.

Unfortunately, the law ran up against the Kentucky Constitution, which has an “open courts” provision. According to Section 14 of the Kentucky Constitution, “All courts shall be open, and every person for an injury done him in his lands, goods, person or reputation, shall have remedy by due course of law, and right and justice administered without sale, denial or debate.” It further prohibits the legislature from limiting the amount to be recovered for injuries resulting in death, or for injuries to a person or property and to provide that “[w]henever the death of a person shall result from an injury inflicted by negligence or wrongful act, then, in every such case, damages may be recovered for such death, from the corporations and persons so causing the same.” In Section 54, the wording is even blunter, declaring “the General Assembly shall have no power to limit the amount to be recovered for injuries resulting in death, or for injuries to person or property.” These “open court” provisions clearly prohibit the General Assembly from creating a cap on noneconomic or punitive damages. Additionally, the creation of a joint underwriting association and requirement for physicians to carry insurance were ruled unconstitutional, as an unjustified exercise of the state’s police power to mandate the purchase of medical malpractice insurance.

Since then, Kentucky has made a few more attempts at reform. In 1988, the Kentucky General Assembly passed House Bill 551, which was intended to modify Kentucky law with respect to punitive damages. Once again, this was found to violate Kentucky’s “open courts” provision. In 2006, conservative legislatures attempted an amendment to the Kentucky Constitution so that caps on noneconomic and punitive damages could be imposed. However, they were unsuccessful in getting the measure on a ballot for voter approval.

Smaller reforms are still being attempted in Kentucky. In January 2016, a bill was introduced by Kentucky State Senator Ralph Alvarado to create a medical review panel system for use in medical malpractice litigation. Sen. Alvarado’s bill was ultimately passed by the Legislature, signed into law by the governor and became effective in June of 2017. The new tort reform revised the commonwealth’s medical malpractice system by creating a system of three-physician panels to review medical negligence claims for merit prior to their proceeding to the court system. The law requires plaintiffs to submit medical professional liability claims to the commonwealth’s Cabinet for Health & Family, which assigns the claim to a three-physician advisory panel that reviews the case and determines whether it has merit or is frivolous before issuing a nonbinding opinion as to whether the case should proceed. Within nine months of the panel selection, it is expected to issue its opinion. If the claim proceeds to court, the trial judge would decide the admissibility of the panel’s conclusion.

Of course, the medical review panel requirement was challenged in court, and Circuit Judge Shepherd ruled the law was unconstitutional in October of 2017 because it makes it more difficult for people to file lawsuits. His order banned the commonwealth from enforcing the law. “The effect of the medical review panel process is not the reduction of frivolous negligence claims, but rather, the erection of barriers to the court system,” Shepherd’s order read. “Those that cannot afford the additional delays and costs should not be prevented from pursuing their constitutional right to a ‘remedy by due course of law.’”

In November of 2017, the Kentucky Appeals Court issued an order allowing the enforcement of the medical review panel tort reform while it reviews an appeal of Shepherd’s ruling. The Appeals Court order means that, for now, the medical review process continues. According to filed court documents, there were at least 89 pending medical liability lawsuits that are subject to the medical review panel process at the time of the appellate court order.

The Kentucky Supreme Court unanimously struck down the 2017 tort reform law that required all medical professional liability claims first filter through a medical review panel to determine merit prior to entering the court system. The 34-page opinion states that the law is unconstitutional in its entirety and delays access to the courts for common-law claims. In holding the Medical Review Panel Act unconstitutional, the Kentucky Supreme Court focused its analysis on Section 14 of the commonwealth’s constitution. Referred to as the “right of judicial remedy for injury; speedy trial,” Section 14 asserts that “All courts shall be open, and every person for an injury done him in his lands, goods, person or reputation, shall have remedy by due course of law, and right and justice administered without sale, denial or delay.”

Resources for Kentucky Physicians

Medical Malpractice Insurance Guide
Kentucky Medical Association
Kentucky Department of Insurance
Kentucky Hospital Association
Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure
Kentucky Osteopathic Medical Association
All MD Kentucky Healthcare Defense Attorney Listing