Michigan Malpractice Insurance

Michigan’s doctors and healthcare professionals are at risk every day for a malpractice claim. Each individual interaction and healthcare decision made that impacts a patient’s care, puts them at risk for medical malpractice lawsuits. Physicians in Michigan should carry medical malpractice insurance to protect their finances and their careers. Medical malpractice lawsuits can be filed in Michigan for a few different conflicts including treatment discrepancies, perceived lack of treatment and other claimed departures from accepted Michigan standards of medical care. As with any lawsuit, there must be proof that harm resulted from a Michigan healthcare professional’s negligence. Learn more about Michigan’s malpractice insurance requirements and how you can find optimal coverage for your unique needs.

Buying Medical Malpractice Insurances in Michigan

The best way to buy medical malpractice coverage in Michigan is to work with a reputable licensed malpractice insurance broker who can generate multiple quotes for your unique needs. Your Michigan broker will also walk you through the lengthy insurance application and underwriting process. This allows you to pick the best coverage at the best price. View medical malpractice insurance quotes from every major Michigan malpractice insurance company.

How much does medical malpractice insurance cost in Michigan?

Rates in Michigan vary greatly depending on where you practice. For example, a general surgeon in Detroit (Wayne County) could see an annual malpractice premium of $55,000. That same general surgeon could move their medical practice to Kalamazoo (Kalamazoo County) and see their malpractice premium drop more than half to $19,500. This is one of the many reasons it’s important to work with an insurance agency that specializes in medical malpractice insurance. Below are mature, base rates with no credits or discounts. We typically get our clients a 30-50% reduction from these rates:

Michigan

  • Internal Medicine Average Rate $6,727
  • General Surgeon Average Rate $27,876
  • OB/gyn – Average Rate $30,578
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Michigan Medical Malpractice Requirements

Like most states, healthcare professionals, doctors, and nurses are not required by law to carry medical malpractice insurance. However, most hospitals require a physician to carry malpractice insurance prior to granting admitting privileges. 

Some of the hospital systems requiring this include, but are not limited to: 

  • Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit
  • Sparrow Hospital in Lansing
  • University of Michigan Hospitals in Ann Arbor

Michigan Limits of Liability 

The most common limits of liability in Michigan are $200,000 per claim with an annual aggregate cap of $600,000.

Factors that Affect Malpractice Insurance Premiums:

  • Practice Location
  • Amount of coverage needed: More coverage means a higher premium 
  • Type of policy preferred: Every policy is different, and every medical practitioner has different needs 
  • Medical specialty: Higher-risk specialties that require unique expertise will naturally have higher premiums
  • Working hours: Longer working hours ( more strained individual) will have higher premiums
  • Previous malpractice claims history: If you have a history of claims, insurance companies will see you as a higher risk and require a higher premium to cover you

How Does the Process Work?

  1. You will submit your information through a secure medical malpractice insurance quote form.
  2. You can always call us and speak to an agent immediately.
  3. A veteran medical malpractice insurance broker in Michigan will be assigned to you.
  4. We shop your Physician Malpractice Insurance to every major malpractice insurance in Michigan.
  5. Your insurance agent will take the time and go over all of your options with you, explaining everything to make certain you make the right decision.
  6. We get you your insurance policy at the best price with a major insurance company.
  7. At renewal time: We start the shopping process all over again, getting you quotes from all the major malpractice insurance companies to again make certain you’re properly priced.

Why Michigan Doctors Choose Cunningham Group

Michigan physicians choose Cunningham Group because we are one of the few medical malpractice insurance agencies that take the time to understand your specific employment situation and your approach to patient care. With access to every major medical malpractice insurance company in Michigan, our team is uniquely qualified to get you the best coverage at the most affordable price. Most Michigan agents only have access to one or two medical malpractice insurance companies. Our almost-universal access lets us shop your coverage among nearly every available company, which means Michigan malpractice insurers compete for your business.

Historic Medical Malpractice Insurance Rates in Michigan for Physicians.

Medical Malpractice Tort Reform in Michigan

Michigan’s stable medical liability climate can be put down to several tort reforms that the Wolverine State has passed since the mid-1980s. Prior to these reforms, Michiganders were experiencing a serious access-to-healthcare dilemma. Medical malpractice claims in the state had spiraled upward from ten per 100 doctors in 1979 to 25 per 100 by 1985—an increase of 150 percent in just six years. From 1970 to 1984, the large Detroit metro-area counties of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb had seen their malpractice filings jump 1,100 percent. Medical professional liability insurance premiums had also doubled between 1980 and 1984, growing even faster in the higher-risk specialties. In response, Michigan physicians were shying away from high-risk procedures. In 1985, 42 percent of Michigan family physicians reported they had either ceased delivering babies or reduced the number they delivered; an even higher percentage of doctors reported that they had cut back on surgery and treating patients likely to require intensive care.

Michigan’s Tort Reform: Public Act 178

In response to cries from the healthcare community, the Michigan legislature passed Public Act 178, a bipartisan piece of legislation that introduced several major changes to the state’s tort law. The 1986 reforms included venue reform, requiring lawsuits to be filed in the county where the alleged injury occurred; joint-and-several liability reform; a higher standard for expert testimony; and, perhaps most important, a cap of $225,000 on noneconomic damages. Michigan has periodically strengthened these reforms. In 1993, Public Act 78 was passed, which increased the non-economic damages cap to $280,000, but also got rid of many exceptions to the cap, which had been left in the 1986 reforms. Public Act 78 also increased standards for expert testimony, required all medical malpractice plaintiffs to file an affidavit of merit and permitted binding arbitration for medical malpractice cases that involved damages not in excess of $75,000. Michigan’s noneconomic damage cap has increased periodically to keep pace with inflation. It currently stands at $438,800 for most injuries and at $783,500 for certain permanent disabilities, such as permanent cognitive disability or paralysis.