Q: I am a doctor and new to the Kingdom. I am working in the emergency section of a hospital located in a remote area. I have shift duties. Normally we do not take critical cases. Almost all the cases are either referred to specialists or sent to the city hospital. Being in the remote area, we do not have any insurance offices. I would like to know whether I need medical insurance. If yes, can you advise me how much it may cost? A: Medical Malpractice Insurance was supposed to be made mandatory. Being a general practitioner and working in the emergency section of the hospital, you have very little exposure to the risk of malpractice. However, as a precautionary measure I will suggest you to have a full-fledged Medical Malpractice Insurance. Most of the insurance companies club some other insurance with Medical Malpractice. You can choose to have MM cover only. The insurance premium for general practitioner ranges from SR600 to SR1,500, which is based on sum insured and deductibles. Minimum coverage will be for SR100,000 and the cover may go up to SR1,000,000. Tawuniya is one of the local insurance companies with branches even in remote areas. They also have toll free telephone line. At one time they were involved in the development of Medical Malpractice Insurance. You can get your insurance done via telephone and fax. They may need a proposal form and a copy of your degree certificate along with the premium. You may also try to explore if some other reputed insurers are giving similar covers. Q: One of our employees met with a serious accident and he had to be hospitalized. He may have to stay in the hospital for at least a week. We have a CCHI insurance policy, but the hospital insisted on cash deposit. Can we recover this money from the insurance company or from the driver of the other vehicle? A: There seems to be some confusion at the hospital. Since your employee was not on duty, it is a clear case that the accident is not work related. You have to contact your insurance company immediately so that it will assess the situation and if necessary will ask the hospital to refund your money. This is an easy and best route. Otherwise you can lodge a re-imbursement claim with your insurers. If the other driver is at fault you have the right to recover from the insurer of the other vehicle or driver. But this will be a long process. * Shujaath Ahmed Khan, an MBA, General Manager, Creative Associates is also a consultant and an expert in Insurance, Investments and Real Estate. He can be contacted at [email protected], website-www.creativeassociates.blogspot.com __
