No, You Do Not Need to Get Malpractice Insurance

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This article has caused some concern that physicians need to obtain malpractice insurance:

https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-military/2021/06/17/its-official-heres-how-troops-can-file-military-medical-malpractice-claims/

I’ve confirmed with BUMED Legal that we DO NOT need malpractice insurance. If there are any questions, I’d check with your JAG, but here was their response:

“The claims authorized by NDAA20 are filed against the U.S. Government, NOT against individual providers.  As a result, any monetary amount awarded as a result of such a claim would not be paid by an individual provider, but by the Government.”

This entry was posted in Feres Doctrine and tagged .

2 thoughts on “No, You Do Not Need to Get Malpractice Insurance”

    Mark Mcinturff said:
    June 22, 2021 at 21:18

    We as military physicians arguably provide care to more civilian depends than we do service members. Unless I’m mistaken, the Feres doctrine only applies to service members. Wouldn’t it stand to reason that we might need malpractice insurance to protect against this? Thoughts?

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      Joel Schofer, MD, MBA, CPE responded:
      June 22, 2021 at 21:24

      No, because you are protected under the Federal Tort Claims Act. They are not suing you. They are suing the US government.

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