What Is Locum Insurance? A Guide for Locum Practitioners

Working as a freelance practitioner offers significant perks, including better work-life balance and generous compensation that reflects your years of experience.

However, like most self-employed professionals, you must sacrifice employer-provided insurance coverage to get them.

Thankfully, locum insurance bridges the gap, providing coverage you’d otherwise lose while pursuing the flexibility you desire in your medical career.

This article explains what it is while revealing the many options locum tenens practitioners have to get it.

Locum Insurance Policies Explained

Insurance for locum tenens physicians is exactly what it sounds like: insurance for people who work locum tenens jobs and who aren’t covered by an employer’s group policy. It’s akin to an employed physician getting personal insurance policies.

Like traditional insurance, locum tenens coverage provides protection against the occupational risks locum healthcare professionals expose themselves to when working as independent contractors. Examples of these threats may include:

• Workplace injuries and sickness (disability insurance)
• Damage or loss of equipment
• Malpractice claims (malpractice insurance); and
• Death (life insurance)

Malpractice insurance for locum tenens professionals can also cover their legal defense fees. Thus, locum insurance provides legal and income protection.

Locum Tenens Insurance and Traditional Malpractice Insurance – The Difference

Although locum insurance bears numerous similarities to the standard malpractice insurance afforded to employed physicians, there are minor differences.

The first difference is whose responsibility it is to buy coverage.

Locum physicians are typically designated as independent contractors, meaning that they’re self-employed. Thus, they don’t have the benefit of an employer handling their insurance. For this reason, locum physicians must get coverage for themselves.

The exception to the above is when they work for a locum tenens staffing agency, in which case the agency handles their insurance. Also, some facilities will extend malpractice insurance coverage to their locum contractors, though this practice rarely happens.

Another key difference between the two is the policy’s portability. For employed physicians, coverage typically ends once they leave the workplace, whereas a locum physician (who pays for their insurance) is covered wherever they work.

How Liability Coverage Works

Like traditional malpractice insurance, coverage for locum tenens staffers falls into two categories: claims-made and occurrence coverage.

Claims-made coverage offers protection while your policy is active. If you’re sued after your policy ends, you won’t be covered unless you add tail coverage to extend protection.

In comparison, occurrence coverage offers lifetime protection. As long as the alleged malpractice occurred while you had a policy in place, you’ll be covered–even if you no longer have a policy with the insurer.

As you can imagine, occurrence coverage is more expensive than a claims-made policy. Also, adding tail coverage to your claims-made policy makes it costlier (as high as 200% of your premium in some cases).

Policy Limits

Insurance limits refer to how much the insurance company will pay out when a claim arises. Typical malpractice insurance policies have limits that range between one and three million Dollars. For other types of insurance, the payouts can be significantly more or less (depending on the type of coverage and policy).

Cost

How much you pay for insurance coverage can vary depending on the state you intend to practice in and the plan you enroll in. Individual plans are also obviously costlier than policies that cover entire families. Additionally, the ongoing consolidation of insurance companies into fewer, larger entities is likely to drive prices even higher.

According to the independent nonprofit organization, KFF, the average lowest cost of a bronze insurance premium in 2025 is $381.

Is Locum Insurance Coverage Worth Getting?

Absolutely. The benefits of getting insurance as a locum tenens worker are manifold and similar to what you get as a covered employee. They include:

• Income When Incapacitated: Disability insurance payouts will be a lifeline when an illness or injury results in you having to take a few months off work.
• Provision for Family: Life insurance coverage will give your family some income if you pass away early.
• Tax Benefits: This benefit is particular to locum insurance in that you can recoup your medical expenses and insurance premiums that exceed 7.5% of your income.
• Protection from Suits: Malpractice insurance can protect you from negligence suits brought many years after you’ve performed your duties.

The above benefits ensure that you and your loved ones aren’t left wanting when unexpected situations arise.

Insurance Options for Locum Tenens Specialists

As a locum tenens physician, you can explore the following options to get yourself insurance coverage:

Healthcare.gov

Healthcare.gov has a health insurance marketplace where locum tenens workers can visit to get insurance. The criteria for enrollment for health insurance on the site include having “certain life events or income, or you qualify for Medicaid or CHIP.” You can apply by state and complete the application process entirely online after creating an account.

As of the time of writing, open enrollment occurs between November 1st and January 15th. You’ll need to qualify for a Special Enrollment Period to apply outside that time. According to the site’s FAQs page, qualification criteria for special enrollment include life events like moving, having a baby, and losing health coverage.

Health Brokers/Agents

Alternatively, you can enlist the services of a broker or agent to enroll in a health insurance plan on your behalf.

Healthcare.gov has licensed brokers and agents who use its marketplace to connect with locum tenens professionals looking for insurance. Acting in a representative capacity, they earn a commission from the insurance companies they represent when they successfully enroll a customer.

According to Healthcare.gov, working with their licensed agents or brokers can still qualify you for premium tax credits and other savings. However, to receive these savings, your enrollment must still be processed through the Healthcare.gov marketplace.

State Medical Associations

Joining your state’s medical association comes with member benefits that could aid your quest to get health insurance. Many of these societies offer helpful resources on a plethora of subjects that apply to the healthcare workers within their jurisdictions.

For example, the Nevada State Medical Society provides information about healthcare coverage in the resources section of its website.

National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE)

If you plan on working locum tenens for the foreseeable future, you could consider becoming a member of the National Association for the Self-Employed. This trade association exists to support small businesses in multiple ways, including connecting them with experts.

Membership provides access to insurance plans that cater to self-employed professionals. You can easily request health insurance through the nonprofit as part of its membership benefits.

Your Locum Agency

Many of the best locum staffing agencies offer insurance coverage as an incentive for working with them. Among other insurance benefits, you can expect to receive locum tenens malpractice insurance coverage.

COBRA Continuation Coverage

If you’re transitioning from full-time employment to locum tenens status, you can elect to continue your healthcare coverage under COBRA.

The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, or COBRA, requires employers to continue to provide coverage “to covered employees, their spouses, former spouses, and dependent children when group health coverage would otherwise be lost due to certain specific events.”

Your former employer must have a roster of 20 or more employees under its group health plan to meet the requirement. You can contact your state’s insurance commissioner’s office to learn whether you qualify for continued coverage under COBRA.

It’s worth noting that with COBRA coverage, your former employer no longer pays a portion of your premium as they did during your employment.

Insure Your Locum Tenens Career with Expert Backing

Whether you’ve worked independently for years or are thinking of taking the leap, you’ll need locum insurance to secure your career ambitions. In addition to covering expenses during unplanned downtimes, proper insurance ensures your loved ones receive financial support in the event of your death.

With several ways to get coverage, searching for insurance products while self-employed can be overwhelming. But if you have experts to guide you, the process becomes more straightforward.

Physicians Thrive can help. Contact us to access a team of experts who understand the ins and outs of locum tenens insurance, starting today!