Volunteers and Medical Malpractice Insurance

Posted by on October 22, 2004

Volunteers at Free Clinics Get a Break on Medical Malpractice Insurance

Volunteering to provide health care to the uninsured at a free clinic just got a little easier, thanks to a new federal program called the Free Clinics Federal Tort Claims Act Medical Malpractice Program. While hundreds of thousands of doctors, dentists, nurse practitioners, and other clinicians across the country volunteer every week to provide health care to the uninsured, one obstacle has stopped many other clinicians from volunteering: malpractice liability. A little known section of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) addresses this issue. Section 194 of HIPAA stated that if a volunteer health care professional meets certain criteria he or she may receive medical malpractice liability coverage through the federal government, much in the same way federal employees do. Unfortunately, although HIPAA was enacted in 1996, for years no appropriations were made to activate Section 194. In March 2004, Congress finally appropriated funds that allowed the US Department of Health and Human Services to create the much-needed program. There is no cost to free clinics or clinicians, but free clinics must meet certain criteria to participate.

For an application form, please go to http://www.bphc.hrsa.gov/freeclinicsftca/application.htm