• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Beazley's New Management Liability Coverage is Tailored to Unique Needs of Healthcare Organizations

Posted on: Thursday, 21 May 2009, 11:26 CDT

CHICAGO, May 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- By combining the expertise of its management liability and healthcare teams, Beazley Group (BEZ.L) has developed enhanced management liability coverage that is precisely tailored to the needs of healthcare organizations, including hospitals, long term care facilities and academic medical centers.

The coverage is an adaptation of Beazley's successful BeazleyOne management liability package policy and protects healthcare organizations against directors' and officers' (D&O) risks, employment practices liability (EPL) risks, and fiduciary risks. A number of risks loom large for healthcare providers that are less of a concern for other organizations. These risks, all of which are covered under the new Beazley policy, include:

• Failure to perform provider selection, credentialing or peer review activities.
• Defense coverage for governmental return of funds claims, triggered when reimbursements from government administered programs such as Medicare and Medicaid are subsequently called into question.
• Affirmative antitrust coverage. Antitrust laws, not always well understood by healthcare organizations, can entail severe penalties when efforts to share services or jointly negotiate better reimbursement terms are deemed to constrain competition and harm consumer interests.
• Full defense coverage for EMTALA (Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act), Excess Benefit and HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) claims.

The coverage, which is available in the admitted market with limits of up to $10,000,000, also includes a broad definition of insured persons, including staff physicians, medical directors, faculty members (at academic medical centers), volunteers and independent contractors.

An additional unique feature of the BeazleyOne policy that may prove valuable to long term care organizations is "employment event" coverage to cover the cost of hiring a public relations firm, a security firm or mental health professionals to cope with major events affecting the workforce, such as layoffs of more than 20% of employees, high profile discrimination lawsuits, or workplace disasters causing loss of life.

In addition to insurance coverage, BeazleyOne policyholders have access to BeazleySource, a risk management website providing practical and valuable loss prevention advice in the D&O, EPL and fiduciary arenas. Among other resources, the site includes a wide variety of online training modules on matters such as employee termination and preventing employee discrimination and sexual harassment.

Kieran Dempsey, underwriter with Beazley's healthcare team in Chicago, said, "Beazley is the largest insurer of US D&O risks in the London market and one of the leading insurers of professional liability risks for major healthcare organizations, including three of the top 10 'honor roll' hospitals listed by US News & World Report. Our clients and their brokers have told us that traditional management liability policies do not adequately cover their exposures. This enhanced version of BeazleyOne is designed to address their concerns.

"With an underwriting team that combines decades of experience in both management liability and healthcare risks, we are well equipped to design coverage that will respond surely and swiftly to threats that other policies may miss. We believe that the enhanced BeazleyOne policy sets a new standard for management liability coverage for healthcare organizations."

Note to editors:

Beazley Group plc (BEZ.L) is the London-based parent company of global, specialist insurance businesses with operations in the UK, US, France, Germany, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia.

Beazley manages four Lloyd's syndicates: Syndicate 2623 and Syndicate 623 underwrite a broad range of insurance and reinsurance business worldwide; Syndicate 3623 focuses on accident and health business; and 3622 is a dedicated life syndicate. In 2008, Beazley underwrote gross premiums of pounds Sterling 875.7m. All Lloyd's syndicates are rated A by A.M. Best. In the US, Beazley's underwriters focus on writing specialist insurance products in the admitted market, backed by Beazley Insurance Company, Inc., an admitted carrier in all 50 states; and surplus lines risks, backed by the Beazley syndicates at Lloyd's. Beazley Insurance Company, Inc. is rated A by A.M. Best.

Beazley is a market leader in many of its chosen lines, which include professional indemnity, property, marine, reinsurance, accident and life, and political risks and contingency business.

For more information, please go to: http://www.beazley.com/.

SOURCE Beazley Group plc

Source: PR Newswire

More News in this Category