I imagine most of you do not consider whether a visiting team doctor is insured for claims of negligence related to his or her care when watching an athlete on a visiting team get worked on by medical staff.

But sometimes those doctors are accused of malpractice, such as in the context of evaluating for concussion in the NFL. In such circumstances, there has been a fear by visiting doctors that they may not be insured if such claims arise. With new legislation introduced with bipartisan support in the House of Representatives, such worries may be a thing of the past.

The bill, now sent to the US Senate for consideration, means to protect team doctors and trainers when they travel across state lines but are still providing care to athletes. Currently, because of jurisdictional reasons, such healthcare providers are not covered by their malpractice insurance.

I imagine the chances of a malpractice case arising out of such case seems on its face to be quite low, in part because of the awkward position the player would be in if still playing on the team (think Alex Rodriguez when he sued the team doctor in an effort to avoid responsibility for doping).

Still, this bill if passed would likely be a good thing. First, it would protect doctors’ assets in the event they were practicing “bare” (without insurance coverage) or not as an employee of the team (in which case the employer would be on the hook for monetary damages). Second, the makes it more likely there will be coverage available to compensate an injured athlete who is the victim of malpractice.

You can read an article regarding this new bill here:

[Sports Team Doctors Want Medical Malpractice Protection When Traveling Out of State](http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2016/09/15/426650.htm)