Insurer Covers Malpractice in Overseas Care
A company offering a new type of liability insurance is hoping to entice employers into sending employees overseas for medical care. Provided by Barbados-based AOS Assurance Co., the patient medical malpractice insurance is intended to resolve the question of what happens when modern medical care promised by a developing country lands patients in a byzantine legal system. Patients who find themselves injured by a doctor in a foreign country may have little legal recourse abroad. The malpractice insurance is intended to provide some financial compensation for their injuries, says Paul Laverty, an AOS director. The insurance costs 76 cents to $8.15 per member monthly and pays a maximum of $100,000 to $1 million per covered person. Employers can offer it to employees directly or through the company’s health insurer. The product, which is being managed by insurance services company AIG, has been available for about a month. Laverty says a number of large health insurers and employers have expressed interest. It’s doubtful that medical malpractice overseas would subject employers to legal liability, since employers are not usually sued for medical malpractice in the United States. If anything the insurance is an incentive offered by employers looking for employees to voluntarily seek medical care overseas. The insurance doesn’t replace the rights of patients who get care in the United States. The insurance would only be valid if a patient sought medical care from a board-certified physician practicing at a medical facility accredited by the Joint Commission International, Laverty says
