Stacy Moorhead, CPCU, AAI, ARM
KAMMCO, Healthcare Facilities Manager
smoorhead@kammco.com

Question:

Are employed nurses covered under our KAMMCO professional liability policy?

Answer:

The Kansas Health Care Provider Insurance Availability Act (The Act) was passed in 1976 and has allowed Kansas to enjoy a favorable malpractice climate for many years. It was even referenced in support of our current tort reform by the Supreme Court. The Act, K.S.A. 40-3401, includes certain professionals and facilities as defined healthcare providers, and it requires compliance with the Health Care Stabilization Fund (HCSF). In 2015, legislative efforts were made to include nursing facilities in this statute. The idea being, if long-term care facilities were included in the statue, then coverage for those facilities might be easier to obtain, and they would be assured of continued tort reform protections. 

For nursing facilities, this now means they must purchase the required coverage limits and select one of the HCSF coverage limits. Professional liability insurance coverage required by and provided by the HCSF must be written in a manner that applies solely to the defined healthcare provider, i.e., the licensed facility. Coverage limits may not be reduced or eroded by paying claims for any other party, such as the nurses or other employees of the facility. This sometimes causes unease amongst the employed providers who would otherwise have no coverage if individually named in a claim for professional healthcare services. 

Blanket Coverage

KAMMCO’s answer to this concern has been to make available a blanket automatic limit of coverage just for the employees, students and volunteers of a facility. Coverage is provided for those individuals not separately required to comply with the HCSF, and it applies to those services rendered while at your facility operating as an employee, student or volunteer.This coverage cannot be used to moonlight in other facilities.

The policy continues to apply to those services rendered by past individuals; thus, it covers past, present and future employees, students and volunteers for services rendered at the facility. Tail coverage does not become an issue until the coverage is terminated by the facility. This can be confusing to some employees who expect a policy declarations page with their name on it, but since this blanket shared coverage limit is provided by an endorsement to the facility policy, there is no personalized individual policy form available to any one employee. 

If you have questions about this coverage or any other insurance or KAMMCO policy question,
contact Stacy Moorhead at 800.232.2259 or smoorhead@kammco.com.