Florida Physician Assistant Malpractice Insurance
Florida's coverage law for physicians, §458.320, doesn't apply to physician assistants (PAs), and the separate rule in §456.048 skips PAs too. Hospitals and groups still require proof of coverage, and Florida adds two risks: a supervising physician can legally go without insurance, and the courts have struck down the state's damages caps. Here's how Florida supervision, prescribing, presuit rules and tail work for PAs. Get a quote online with same-day proof.
Why Florida PAs Need Their Own Policy
Florida law makes your supervising physician, or the physician group, responsible and liable for what you do (Fla. Stat. §458.347(3)). That doesn't mean their insurance protects you. A Florida physician can choose not to carry malpractice insurance by agreeing to pay judgments up to $100,000 or $250,000 and posting a sign that says YOUR DOCTOR HAS DECIDED NOT TO CARRY MEDICAL MALPRACTICE INSURANCE (§458.320(5)(g)). Insured physicians may carry as little as $100,000 per claim, or $250,000 with hospital privileges, and you'd share those limits. Claims can also be large: the Florida Supreme Court held the non-economic damages caps for practitioners unconstitutional (North Broward Hosp. Dist. v. Kalitan, 2017). A policy in your own name gives you your own defense and limits, and it can cover telehealth or second jobs that an employer's policy won't.
How much does malpractice insurance for Physician Assistants cost in Florida?
Costs are based on specialties as well as full vs part- time hours:
Average $1M/$3M Coverage Premium - Part Time (less than 24 hours/week):
$1,012 - P1 (lower-risk outpatient specialties like family practice or dermatology)
$1,317 - P2 (hospital ER, urgent care, OR work under 10 hours/week)
$1,611 - P3 (surgical or OB/GYN without L&D, trauma, pain management)
Average $1M/$3M Coverage Premium - Full Time (greater than 24 hours/week):
$1,523 - P1 (lower-risk outpatient specialties like family practice or dermatology)
$1,988 - P2 (hospital ER, urgent care, OR work under 10 hours/week)
$2,426 - P3 (surgical or OB/GYN without L&D, trauma, pain management)
Sample rates only. Premium will be underwritten for your exact situation when using our Instant Online Quote portal.
Physician Assistant Insurance cost varies depending on:
* Scope of services provided
* Claims-made vs. occurrence form
* Policy limits (standard limits are $1/$3M, but $100k/$300k, $250k/$500k, $500k/$1M and $2M/$4M limits available
* Prior claims history
**Note:** Rates will be underwritten for your exact situation.
Florida PA Practice Rules
Coverage rule: Florida does not require PAs to carry malpractice insurance. §456.048 requires it of anesthesiologist assistants, APRNs and some other practitioners but not PAs, and §458.320 applies to physicians. Contracts usually set $1M/$3M. Presuit process: before suing, the patient's lawyer must investigate and get a corroborating medical expert opinion (§766.203), then send notice of intent by certified mail or tracked delivery. No suit may be filed for 90 days while your insurer reviews the claim (§766.106). Time limits: 2 years from the incident or its discovery, and no more than 4 years, unless there was fraud or concealment. A child's claim can be brought until the 8th birthday (§95.11(5)(c)). Damages: §766.118 still lists a $500,000 non-economic cap, but Kalitan (2017) and Estate of McCall (2014) struck down the practitioner caps, so in practice there is no cap. Florida has no patient compensation fund. A state Joint Underwriting Association serves as a market of last resort (§627.351(4)).
Florida PAs practice under supervision, defined as responsible supervision and control with the physician easily available, including by phone or video (Fla. Stat. §458.347(2)(g)). One physician may supervise up to 10 PAs at a time. A physician can't be required to co-sign your charts (§458.347(3)). Florida has no path to unsupervised practice; SB 1540, which proposed one, died in 2025.
Florida Physician Assistant (PA) FAQs
Are Florida physician assistants required to have liability insurance?
Florida law doesn't require it. The financial responsibility statute for physicians (§458.320) and the one for AAs, APRNs and others (§456.048) both leave out PAs. In practice, Florida hospitals, groups and telehealth companies ask for a certificate of insurance before credentialing. Since your supervising physician may be self-insured or uninsured, check whose policy covers you.
$1M per claim / $3M aggregate is the common contract requirement. Florida physicians may legally carry only $100,000/$300,000, or $250,000/$750,000 with privileges (§458.320), so don't size your limits to theirs. With practitioner damage caps struck down in 2017, large verdicts aren't limited.
What policy limits do Florida hospitals expect PAs to carry?
How much does malpractice insurance for Physician Assistants cost in Florida?
Premiums for PAs in Florida may begin around $972 per year at the $100,000/$300,000 level. Full-time coverage at the standard $1M/$3M level often averages $1523 for P1 (lower-risk outpatient specialties like family practice or dermatology), $1988 for P2 (hospital ER, urgent care, OR work under 10 hours/week), and $2426 for P3 (surgical or OB/GYN without L&D, trauma, pain management). Part-time work in Florida often brings reduced premiums, roughly $1012 for Tier P1, $1317 for Tier P2, and $1611 for Tier P3. Actual rates depend on your specialty focus, practice hours, procedures performed, and any prior claims.
Does a hospital's malpractice coverage protect Florida physician assistants?
Only if you're named and understand the terms. On a group policy you typically share limits, the group's carrier controls the defense, and coverage ends when you leave. In Florida, also confirm the physician carries insurance at all and not a financial responsibility alternative. Get a certificate naming you, and check who pays tail.
Your legal defense plus any settlement or judgment, up to your limits, when a Florida patient claims your care caused harm. Individual policies usually add board complaint defense too.
What is included in malpractice insurance for a Florida PA?
Does Florida allow PAs to practice independently?
No. Florida has no path to unsupervised PA practice. You work under responsible supervision and control, with the physician easily available in person or by phone or video (Fla. Stat. 458.347(2)(g)); a physician cannot be required to co-sign your charts. SB 1540, which proposed autonomous PA practice, died in 2025.
Your supervising physician must notify the Department of Health before delegating prescribing in Florida. You can then prescribe drugs used in that physician's practice, except those on the Council's formulary. Schedule II prescriptions are limited to a 7-day supply, or 14 days for psychiatric drugs for minors under certain supervisors (§458.347). Schedule II opioids for acute pain are limited to 3 days unless you document an exception (§456.44). Check the state PDMP before prescribing to patients 16 and older (§893.055).
Can physician assistants in Florida prescribe opioids and other controlled drugs?
How many years can a patient wait to sue for malpractice in Florida?
Two years from the incident or from when it was or should have been discovered in Florida, and no more than 4 years from the incident unless there was fraud or concealment; a child's claim can be filed until the 8th birthday (Fla. Stat. 95.11(5)(c)). Before suing, the patient must complete presuit investigation and a 90-day notice period (766.106, 766.203).
Are pain and suffering damages capped in Florida malpractice cases?
Not in practice. §766.118 still lists a $500,000 non-economic cap per claimant for practitioners, $1 million for death. The Florida Supreme Court held the wrongful-death caps unconstitutional in Estate of McCall (2014) and the personal-injury caps in North Broward Hospital District v. Kalitan (2017). Without an enforceable cap, Florida PAs should choose limits based on contract requirements and severity risk, not a statutory ceiling.
Do Florida PAs get coverage from a state malpractice fund?
No. Florida has no state fund that pays above your policy limits; that kind of fund exists in states such as Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. What Florida does have is a Joint Underwriting Association, created under §627.351(4), which writes coverage when the regular market won't. Your own policy limits are the most your coverage will pay.
Is tail coverage required for PAs in Florida?
On a claims-made policy, plan for it. Florida claims can be filed up to 2 years after an incident is discovered, with a 4-year outer limit, or until a child's 8th birthday (§95.11(5)(c)). Buy tail from the old carrier or get prior-acts coverage from the new one, and get it in writing who pays.
What is the difference between claims-made and occurrence for PAs in Florida?
Occurrence covers incidents during the policy period whenever the claim is filed, and you never need tail. Claims-made is cheaper to start, rises over roughly five years, and needs tail or prior acts when you leave. Many Florida PA policies are claims-made. Because Florida has no enforceable damages cap, compare the limits and defense terms, such as whether defense costs reduce the limits, not just the premium.
How should a new graduate PA in Florida set up malpractice coverage?
If you've graduated from an approved program and are registered for the next PANCE, Florida can issue a temporary license; it expires 30 days after your scores arrive (§458.347(7)(d)). Start coverage on your first clinical day. Before you prescribe, your physician files the delegation notice and you complete the 3-hour controlled-substance CME. New-grad PAs can usually get $1M/$3M right away, often at a first-year discount.
Do Florida PAs need special coverage for telehealth?
Ask the carrier to confirm. Florida applies the in-person standard of care to telehealth (§456.47(2)). Schedule II drugs can't be prescribed by telehealth except for psychiatric disorders, hospital inpatients, hospice patients and nursing-home residents. Florida isn't in the PA Licensure Compact. Out-of-state providers can register with Florida to treat Florida patients by telehealth (§456.47(4)), and you need licensure where your patients are.
Does PA malpractice coverage in Florida include board complaint defense?
Yes, if your policy includes it. A complaint to the Florida Board of Medicine can threaten your license with no lawsuit at all. Employer policies often skip this, a common reason Florida PAs buy their own.
What happens if a Florida PA practices without malpractice insurance?
You'd handle the presuit stage yourself. Florida's 90-day presuit window after the notice of intent expects each defendant or their insurer to investigate the claim and respond (§766.106). An uninsured PA has no insurer to do that and no lawyer assigned. Your supervising physician may be liable as well, but their coverage protects them, if they have coverage at all. A payment made on your behalf is reported to the National Practitioner Data Bank.
Are PA malpractice payments in Florida reported to the board and the NPDB?
Yes. Whoever pays a claim on your behalf, whether a carrier, employer or self-insured physician, files a federal NPDB report (45 CFR §60.7). Florida license applications and renewals ask about felony convictions and prior license actions (§458.347(7)), and many hospital and payer applications ask about every claim. Keep a current loss run from each carrier so you can answer completely.
Can I get same-day proof of malpractice insurance as a Florida PA?
Often the same day. Start with an instant online quote for Florida PA coverage, and proof of insurance usually follows soon after you apply and pay. Questions: 480-385-7372.
Does Florida's financial responsibility law require PAs to carry malpractice insurance?
No. §458.320 applies to physicians and §456.048 lists anesthesiologist assistants, APRNs, dentists, podiatrists, chiropractors, acupuncturists and midwives in Florida. PAs aren't on either list. If you prescribe, though, you need 10 specialty CME hours at each renewal, including 3 hours on safe controlled-substance prescribing (§458.347(4)(e)). Coverage is still required by contract nearly everywhere you'd work.
Up to 10 currently licensed PAs at any one time (Fla. Stat. §458.347(3)), the limit since HB 431 in 2021 in Florida. The supervising physician must practice in the areas where the PA works and is individually or collectively liable for the PA's acts. A PA prescription must show your name, address and phone number plus each supervising physician's name, and each prescription is recorded in the chart.
Is there a PA-to-physician ratio in Florida?
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Helpful Links:
- Physician assistant (PA) insurance guide
- PA malpractice insurance cost by state
- Instant PA insurance quotes
- Am I covered under my supervising physician's policy?
- Tail coverage for physician assistants
- Claims-made vs occurrence for PAs
- Georgia PA malpractice insurance
- Alabama PA malpractice insurance
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