insurance for hospices

Westwood will work with you to ensure your Hospice clients have adequate insurance coverage for every possible threat they face.

General Liability Insurance

General Liability insurance cover medical expenses and attorney fees which result from bodily injuries and property damage that your company or organization could be legally responsible for.

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Professional Liability Insurance

Professional liability insurance, also known as errors and omissions insurance (E&O) and medical malpractice insurance, protects your business against claims of negligence, malpractice, errors, and omissions which may have occurred during the fulfillment of a professional service.

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Directors and Officers Liability (D&O) insurance

D&O insurance (Directors and officers liability insurance), shields the personal assets of company directors and officers, and where necessary, their spouses, from claims which could arise as a result of the decisions they made and actions they took within the scope of their regular duties.

Cyber insurance

Cyber liability insurance covers the financial costs associated with a breach of your cyber security, such as a ransomware attack. It also covers first party costs including event management, data restoration, financial costs to third parties, network interruption, and cyber extortion.

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HNO Insurance

HNOA, (hired non-owned auto insurance) is designed for organizations who regularly hire vehicles or require employees to use their own vehicles in the course of their work. In the case of an accident where your employee was liable, it could cover physical damage to that other person’s vehicle, medical expenses, the cost of hiring an attorney to defend your business.

Workers’ Comp. Insurance

Workers’ compensation insurance covers your employees for workplace injuries or illness. It provides them with medical and wage benefits.

This coverage is mandated by each state, with the wage and medical benefits varying from state to state. Workers compensation also protects business owners from civil suits by workers who become injured on the job.

Employment Practices Liability

Employment practices liability insurance (EPL insurance or EPLI), covers employers (PDF) against claims made by employees for:

Discrimination (based on sex, race, age or disability, for example)
Wrongful termination
Harassment
Failure to promote and other employment-related issues

Environmental Liability insurance

Environmental Liability insurance is liability insurance specifically designed to protect environmental liabilities. This is a specialized form of general, commercial liability insurance that provides financial protection against litigation and clean-up costs resulting from claims of injury or damage caused by pollution, contamination or hazardous waste disposals.

Property Insurance

Property Insurance covers unexpected damage or loss to property. The policy can be purchased to cover both structures and contents, which are separate policies in many cases. Property Insurance covers physical structures, not land. Medical facilities and aged care facilities need property insurance to cover the real property and all fixed items such as furniture, medical equipment, art works and tapestries.

Crime Insurance

Crime Insurance covers the insured party a reimbursement if their property is damaged due to a crime. Crime Insurance usually has a huge range of options and comes in different forms. It can be either a rider that can be attached to the existing insurance policy, or it is available as a completely separate product.

Auto Insurance

Auto insurance is a type of liability insurance coverage, usually mandated by law, for all mechanically propelled vehicles. It provides protection against losses resulting from traffic accidents and against liability that could also arise therefrom. A medical or aged care facility would typically have auto insurance on their fleet of vehicles as well as for any vehicles transporting patients to and from the facility.

Fully/Partially Funded insurance

Partially Funded insurance gives facilities the opportunity to pay a set premium for, and then in turn is partially covered for specific risks.

Fully Funded Insurance allows facilities to pay premiums to have coverage against all risks. In return, if they are unfortunate enough to incur any of the covered loss or injury, they are reimbursed their insurance policy amount.

Excess and umbrella coverage

Excess coverage provides an additional layer of protection over and above what an underlying policy provides. It applies to a single policy only.

An umbrella policy on the other hand, provides additional liability coverage over and above what is provided by a number of underlying policies.

hospices require special coverage

Hospice providers provide free end-of-life care for those who are terminally ill and their families.

We believe no one should die alone or in pain. We strive to make each person’s final days as comfortable and meaningful as possible by providing emotional, spiritual, social and practical support to both the patient and their family members. Hospice staff provides all the necessities of daily living such as bathing, dressing, cooking meals or providing a listening ear when it is needed most.

Hospice providers face particular challenges when their clients die. They need support and recognition that the job is difficult and thankless. End-of-life issues present some of the most difficult challenges we face as human beings, and it is crucial that we provide the best care possible.

Insurance required by Hospice providers is costly. Without it, many patients have no access to the pain control medications that would allow them to die comfortably at home.

Hospice providers can be sued for malpractice if their care is found to be negligent.

There are many instances of hospice providers being sued for malpractice. This is made more likely by the fact that hospice providers are usually not doctors themselves, and it is difficult to prove fault in malpractice cases.

Hospice providers also do not have the same protections as hospitals because they do not provide active care, but instead provide relief from symptoms, which can make it harder to prove negligence. Staff must also be insured against negligent acts. Hospice nurses and other hospice providers are typically trained at the local college or nursing program; they carry liability insurance that will cover malpractice lawsuits.