Professional Liability and Medical Malpractice
Professional liability is the foundation of any effective home health agency insurance package for skilled providers. This part of your home health agency insurance protects your nurses and therapists against allegations of clinical errors or omissions.
What It Covers: Malpractice claims, medication errors, treatment mistakes, inadequate care allegations, missed symptoms, documentation failures, care coordination errors
Why You Need It: Required by Medicare, state licensing, and all payer contracts. Typical requirement: $1M per claim / $3M aggregate minimum
Typical Cost: $8,000-$25,000 annually depending on agency size and services
General Liability for Healthcare Operations
General liability is a standard requirement for your home health agency insurance portfolio to cover non-clinical accidents. This layer of home health agency insurance is often required to secure office leases and participate in various state programs.
What It Covers: Client falls and injuries, property damage in patient homes, visitor injuries, equipment damage, premises liability at your office
Why You Need It: Required by most contracts. Covers accidents and injuries not related to professional services
Typical Cost: $2,000-$5,000 annually
Workers Compensation for Clinical Caregivers
Under federal and state guidelines, your home health agency insurance must include workers compensation to protect staff from work-related injuries. This is a vital component of home health agency insurance that handles medical costs for your field clinicians.
What It Covers: Employee injuries, back strains from patient handling, auto accidents between patients, needle sticks, occupational exposures
Why You Need It: Legally required in nearly all states when you have employees. Covers medical expenses and lost wages
Typical Cost: $8-$12 per $100 of payroll for clinical staff
Cyber Liability Insurance for Home Health Data
As agencies move toward electronic health records (EHR) and digital scheduling, home health agency insurance must include cyber protection. This ensures your agency can recover from data breaches or ransomware attacks that compromise sensitive patient information.
What It Covers: Data breaches, ransomware attacks, HIPAA violations, electronic health record compromises, breach notification costs
Why You Need It: You store protected health information electronically. Average breach costs $200,000+. Many contracts now require this
Typical Cost: $2,500-$6,000 annually
Commercial Auto Coverage for Field Staff
Since your caregivers are constantly traveling between patient homes, specialized home health agency insurance for vehicles is a high priority. This covers the unique risks of staff being on the road throughout the day.
What It Covers: Liability and physical damage for vehicles owned or leased by your agency used to transport employees or patients
Why You Need It: If you own any vehicles, required by law. If employees use personal vehicles, you need hired & non-owned auto instead
Typical Cost: $3,000-$6,000 per vehicle annually
Excess Protection with Umbrella Liability
To reach the higher limits required by some state contracts, many providers add an umbrella policy to their home health agency insurance package. This provides an extra layer of financial security above your primary liability limits.
What It Covers: Additional liability coverage above your primary policies when claims exceed standard limits
Why You Need It: Catastrophic claims can exceed $1M limits. Provides extra $1M-$5M protection for relatively low cost
Typical Cost: $1,500-$4,000 annually for $2M additional coverage
