Sec. 20-11b. Professional liability insurance required. Reports from insurance companies. Exception to insurance requirement. Retired physician providing free services.

(a) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, each person licensed to practice medicine and surgery under the provisions of section 20-13 who provides direct patient care services shall maintain professional liability insurance or other indemnity against liability for professional malpractice. The amount of insurance which each such person shall carry as insurance or indemnity against claims for injury or death for professional malpractice shall not be less than five hundred thousand dollars for one person, per occurrence, with an aggregate of not less than one million five hundred thousand dollars.

(b) Each insurance company which issues professional liability insurance, as defined in subdivisions (1), (6), (7), (8) and (9) of subsection (b) of section 38a-393, shall on and after January 1, 1995, render to the Commissioner of Public Health a true record of the names and addresses, according to classification, of cancellations of and refusals to renew professional liability insurance policies and the reasons for such cancellation or refusal to renew said policies for the year ending on the thirty-first day of December next preceding.

(c) A person subject to the provisions of subsection (a) of this section shall be deemed in compliance with such subsection when providing primary health care services at a clinic licensed by the Department of Public Health that is recognized as tax exempt pursuant to Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or any successor internal revenue code, as may be amended from time to time, provided: (1) Such person is not compensated for such services; (2) the clinic does not charge patients for such services; (3) the clinic maintains professional liability insurance coverage in the amounts required by subsection (a) of this section for each aggregated forty hours of service or fraction thereof for such persons; (4) the clinic carries additional appropriate professional liability coverage on behalf of the clinic and its employees in the amounts of five hundred thousand dollars per occurrence, with an aggregate of not less than one million five hundred thousand dollars; and (5) the clinic maintains total professional liability coverage of not less than one million dollars per occurrence with an annual aggregate of not less than three million dollars. Such person shall be subject to the provisions of subsection (a) of this section when providing direct patient care services in any setting other than such clinic. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to relieve the clinic from any insurance requirements otherwise required by law.

(d) No person insured pursuant to the requirements of subsection (a) of this section with a claims-made medical malpractice insurance policy shall lose the right to unlimited additional extended reporting period coverage upon such person's permanent retirement from practice if such person solely provides professional services without charge at a clinic recognized as tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of said internal revenue code.

(P.A. 94-71, S. 1; P.A. 95-257, S. 12, 21, 58; P.A. 96-180, S. 64, 166; P.A. 04-221, S. 30.)

History: P.A. 95-257 replaced Commissioner and Department of Public Health and Addiction Services with Commissioner and Department of Public Health, effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 96-180 required addresses to be included with the record of names in Subsec. (b), effective June 3, 1996; P.A. 04-221 added Subsec. (c) re exception from requirement to maintain insurance and Subsec. (d) re extended reporting period coverage for retired physicians providing certain services and made a conforming change in Subsec. (a), effective June 8, 2004.

Notation

See Sec. 17a-714a re legal protection for licensed health care professionals who prescribe opioid antagonists to drug users.