It is common to ask: DO I NEED MY OWN INSURANCE OR AM I COVERED BY THE MEDISPA?
The answer submitted actually applies to more than just the cosmetic Nurse Aestheticians, In an article submitted online for Medical Aesthetic Training Of California, called The future of Aesthetic Nursing! written by Barry Klazura
He addresses the very basic coverage question: not surprisingly, the answer is: yes, you need your own professional liability if you are an independent contractor; this similar question is posed to us from many doctors, ranging from physicians asked to do light file review, a few hours per month, to Orthopedic Surgeons acting as primary surgeon for an organization (ie. hospital, surgery center, integrated healthcare alliance), not aware of whether their independent status will be providing them with insurance, or whether they need to procure their own.
The answer, more times than not is:
You do need your own insurance and cannot be covered by the Medispa unless you are an employee (W-2).
It is always important to see the written document verifying coverage; we’ve seen too many situations where a surgeon is recruited, moves to the location of the job, prepares for the first day, and then anecdotally asks about the insurance, the tail and the responsibility of paying for both. At this time, they are likely to find out that the insurance is not provided and they have to begin the process of searching for their own solutions.
Another assumption: I HAVE INSURANCE THROUGH a Nursing Association FOR MY WORK AT HOSPITALS, and clinical work at local centers and medical practices, and, I also do work at a MediSpa, this policy covers me there too correct?
NO it does not! The Nursing Services, Association plans do not provide any coverage for independent contractor work in the aesthetic field for the state of California. To protect yourself for your potential liability at the medispa, you need a separate insurance policy for that work.
THE COST OF PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY INSURANCE FOR An Independent Contractors of a MediSpa;
Well, if the medispa has its own true professional liability, I would say no the cost is factored in, usually adding approximately $ 800.00 to $ 1,000.00 to each medispa liability annual premium. If the Medispa has its own professional liability insurance policy and does not include you in that policy, then the policies purchased on your own (specifically just naming you and not the spa will run approximately $ 1,250 – 1,500.
There are occasions where you will be asked to provide the liability coverage for the medical director as well, this will add up to another $ 1,200 to the policy: Both of the above policies are for $1,000,000 in coverage.
As you can see, it is extremely important that you find out if the medispa has its own insurance so that you can better discuss your compensation.
Financing the cost of medical professional liability insurance
For any of these policies, you can budget your payments, with a small finance charge (usually 9 % applied over the last nine months of the policy, you can manage the payments, with a 25-35% down and the rest over 9-10 payments.
Another question that is commonly asked is : as long as the MediSpa provides me with their insurance, then I’m set, correct?
This is similar to the situation of a physician hired by a medical group, wondering whether the policy covers outside the group, or just for the work at the medical group (very common within Anesthesia Specialties.
You need to procure your own coverage for the work outside ; the policy at the Spa does not cover you outside the spa (no sooner than the Anesthesiologist’s policy covers him outside the medical group.
If you were to attend and work at a “botox party”, you would NOT BE COVERED by your insurance that you got for the medispa; you would need to add that endorsement (we can submit the application to an underwriter for this endorsement). Additionally, it depends of you are an employee or a 1099 independent contractor. If you are a 1099 independent contractor, you are not covered by the policy of the medispa.
The Doctors Insurance Agency specializing in cosmetic nurse aesthetic liability insurance.