 |
HealthCare Practice Group
Is Now A Brown & Brown Company
We are pleased to announce that Health Care Practice Group has joined the Brown & Brown team. Brown & Brown is the sixth largest independent insurance
intermediary in the country with over 62 years of continuous service. Their strength,
vision, and support will help us deliver the best in medical malpractice insurance
solutions for our clients.
With so many quality, highly rated and experienced
insurance companies competing for your business, and all of them offering rates
that vary as much as 50% for the same doctor, how do you find the best possible
coverage, without over paying for the financial protection you are seeking?
It takes the knowledge, experience and creative skill of a health care industry
liability specialist who knows which underwriters are offering the most competitive
programs and rates for your specific needs.
Here are Just Some of
the Reasons Why You Should Choose Health Care Practice Group as Your Broker
HealthCare Practice Group Works for You and Your
Interests
It is important to understand the difference between an
agent and a broker. Fundamentally, agents are appointed by insurance companies
to act on their behalf. Brokers, on the other hand, represent the buyers' interests.
If you choose HealthCare Professionals' as your broker, you can be assured that
your interests will always be protected above all others.
HealthCare Practice Group's Fee for Services Rendered Plan Can Save You
Money
Despite what most insurance agents and brokers want you to
believe, they don't sell insurance. They take orders. Because most individuals
and business managers buy property and casualty insurance to protect their assets,
they treat insurance like any other commodity. They go shopping to find the best
price for the type of policy they want. They place little value on the services
provided by agents' and brokers' because they don't know how much they're paying
for them. Most insurance companies pay agents and brokers a commission for bringing
customers to them. The amount is typically based upon the premium paid by the
customer. The greater the premium, the more the agent or broker receives.
Rather than provide the limited shopping services typically provided by brokers,
we seek to become a member of your team of independent management advisors. We
expect to make a significant contribution to your financial success by serving
shoulder-to-shoulder with your attorneys, accountants and insurance, actuarial
and risk management teams.
For this reason, Health Care Practice Group
doesn't believe there is necessarily any correlation between the amount of premium
you pay and the value of the services rendered. That's why we make a practice
of negotiating the amount we charge for our services before you buy insurance.
When working for solo practitioners, small partnerships and provider groups
that pay less than $1,000,000 a year for their professional liability insurance,
we always disclose the full amount of commission we expect to receive from the
underwriters. We typically accept the carriers' commissions as payment in full
for our services.
Those groups and managed care organizations that pay
in excess of $1,000,000 in professional liability insurance premiums can expect
to save money because our fees are typically less than the standard rates of commissions
paid by underwriters. Whenever possible, we arrange for the insurance carriers
to price their policies net of commissions. If they insist on including commissions
in their pricing formula, we fully disclose the amount and adjust our fee accordingly.
HealthCare Practice Group Has the Experience and Special
Skills Required to Serve Your Needs
Generally, the typical agent
or broker is not equipped to deal with the complexities of the business risks
confronting healthcare providers. The challenge is finding one with a working
knowledge of the healthcare industry that has hands-on experience in dealing with
the risks of healthcare providers, and is schooled in the art of risk financing.
Even many of those who have the requisite skills cannot be relied upon to place
their clients' needs above their own because of the conflict of interest inherent
in the commission system. The dilemma facing commission-oriented brokers is that
they are reluctant to disclose the conflict.
Our task is to help you
evaluate your exposures to loss and to design financing plans to fit your specific
needs. If we need help, we are not reluctant to look to others better qualified
to provide the specific services you may require. We assume the role of coordinator
and assemble and monitor the actuaries, claims administrators, loss and quality
control technicians, captive managers and other experts needed to complement the
services we provide.
With over 25 years of healthcare industry experience,
HealthCare Professionals' is one of a handful of brokers in the United States
truly able to meet your special needs.
HealthCare Practice Group Has a Working Relationship With All the Major Healthcare Industry
Underwriters
Until fairly recently, most of the doctor owned insurance
companies formed during the '75-'76 crisis would not entertain submissions presented
by independent brokers. As the result of increased competition from commercial
insurers, many have opened their doors only to qualified brokers. Due to our daily
dealings in the underwriting market place, we have developed a working relationship
with virtually all of the leading underwriters. Because we present ourselves as
a member of your team of independent management advisors, we are able to deal
with insurance carriers overlooked by, or not otherwise available to, commission
brokers.
Payment of brokers' commissions is not a motivating factor in
selecting carriers. The choice of carriers is based upon our evaluation of their
policy forms, claims handling facilities and reputation, plus their financial
ability to meet their obligations. Except in extraordinary situations, we only
do business with insurance companies based upon their financial strength and ability
to deliver the protection you require at the lowest reasonable cost.
By selecting Health Care Practice Group as your broker, you too will be able to
take advantage of the impeccable reputation for integrity and technical competence
we have earned with underwriters, our clients and our peers.
Things You Should Know About Your Carrier
- Who owns the company
and how long has it been in business?
- What are the company's key operating
ratios (written premiums to surplus, incurred loss and loss expense to earned
premiums, combined underwriting and incurred loss and loss expense to earned premiums)?
- What is the company's A.M. Best Company rating?
- Is the company licensed
to do business as an admitted carrier in the states in which you do business?
- If it is not admitted, how is it regulated by each states in which you do
business? Is it "white listed" as an approved excess and surplus lines carrier,
Risk Retention Group, Risk Purchasing Group, or other?
- Where is the company
located or domiciled?
- Who will work with you when you have a claim? Does the
company adjust its own claims or use a third party? Where is the claims facility
located?
- Which defense firms does the company use?
- What is the company's
track record in underwriting medical-malpractice coverage?
Here are
a Few "Tips" on What to Look for In a Proposal
- What are the second-year,
third-year and mature "claims-made" premium charges?
- Is your purchase of "tail"
coverage guaranteed?
- What are the "tail" costs and how long is the reporting
period extended?
- Who reinsures the company, and under what terms?
- What
is the background of the agents, brokers, or consultants representing the company's
program?
|
|  | |
