Telephone
816.901.9950
Fax toll free
800.955.1855
Toll free
800.264.5959
E-mail
email@modocs.org
Address
PO Box 914
224 North 7th St
Saint Joseph MO 64501
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Your most important concern is the quality of the association you consider joining. You want to be a member of an organization of careful and concerned professionals. MoDocs’ management has gone to extraordinary lengths to tailor a program that is cost effective, actuarially sound and doctor friendly— exactly the type of program that attracts careful and concerned professionals as members.
Recently mutual insurance associations have re-emerged to a position of prominence in Missouri. There are now three new Missouri-only mutual medical malpractice insurance companies that have been formed under a special Missouri insurance law called Chapter 383. The law was enacted in the mid–1970s in response to the original malpractice insurance crisis, and it allows doctors to join together to form assessable mutual insurance programs without the same hurdles imposed on normal—stock—insurance companies.
Of these three new companies, MoDocs offers by far the most attractive package of doctor–friendly policy provisions and benefits. Given the current dreadful state of the medical malpractice marketplace in Missouri and the attractive benefits MoDocs is offering, doctors will want to give it very serious consideration.
MoDocs policy is intriguing with a number of attractive features:
As a mutual Chapter 383 company, MoDocs is a not for profit entity, owned by the doctors it covers. Unlike a stock company, MoDocs doesn’t need to make a profit for shareholders. MoDocs’ business plan is to be competitive in order to keep premiums low, making it easier for doctors to stay in Missouri. We are also selective, in order to keep claims (and thus premiums) down.
Chapter 383 companies, being assessable, have the ability to assess members in times of bad losses. The fact is some stock companies have gone bankrupt, but never a 383. According to the Missouri Department of Insurance, they are not aware of a 383 medical liabiltiy insurance company ever assessing its members, either. MoDocs is safer than a stock company.
Some competitors have forced doctors to give up their right to consent to settle a claim. If they thought it was in their company’s best interest, they could settle a claim against you even if you felt your care was perfect. If that happened, you would receive a permanent black mark in your National Practitioner Data Bank file. MoDocs lets you keep this critical right.
Some companies require doctors to agree in advance to mediation or binding arbitration. It’s easy to imagine a case where the accused doctor would feel that the care given was standard, but the mandatory mediation or arbitration resulted in a settlement that would forever damage the doctor’s National Practitioner Data Bank file. MoDocs will not require mediation or arbitration.
Some policies impose a very onerous provision called a “hammer clause”. If you are sued and your insurance company receives a settlement offer they wish to accept, but that you refuse or block, then the hammer clause makes you personally liable for any subsequent judgment or award amount in excess of the settlement amount offered earlier—EVEN IF THE EXCESS AMOUNT IS WITHIN THE POLICY LIMITS!
With MoDocs, when you report an incident, it is covered whether or not you ever buy a tail, unlike some companies. They require that you report an incident, but it isn’t covered until you receive a demand or a summons. If you reported a bad incident, but renewal time came before the lawsuit did—could they cancel you, leaving you without coverage for that incident? DANGER!
Some companies limit their tail coverage to a two year period. Unfortunately, the statute of limitations doesn’t always run within that time. If a claim were to be first made after expiration of the two-year tail, there would be no coverage at all. MoDocs offers true tail coverage.
Unless you fail to pay your premium, lose your medical license or misrepresent the facts on your application, MoDocs guarantees to offer you tail coverage. Other companies do not make this guarantee in their policy. Without a promise of tail coverage, your options could be severely limited when contemplating a practice change or retirement.
MoDocs will provide you with a free tail if you: die; become totally disabled; or retire over the age of 50 after three consecutive years with MoDocs. These provisions are far superior to those of our competitors.
Some companies include the cost of defending a claim as counting toward the policy limits. Defense costs of $100,000 under a policy with a $500,000 limit would leave only $400,000 to pay a claim. MoDocs pays defense costs outside the limits, giving you the full protection of your policy.