Dec. 14, 2016

At the 2016 CAATE Accreditation Conference the CAATE’s legal representative, Kasi Moeskau, Esq. presented on Legal Issues in AT Education, specifically concentrating on affiliation agreements. In preparing her presentation, Ms. Moeskau obtained affiliation agreements from a variety of institutions and noted an alarming concern regarding the liability insurance that some programs have in place. There are two general types of liability insurance: Commercial General Liability Insurance (or CGL): CGL is a general liability policy that typically insures against claims of bodily or personal injury or property damage arising from products, services and operations. The general liability policy will cover the legal fees and costs associated with the defense, settlements, and property damages. Professional Liability coverage: Also known as errors and omissions (E&O) or malpractice policies and cover negligence as it pertains to professional services provided. Provides coverage for suits that could result from an error or omission in work or services rendered to a client or patient. It was noted that while the appropriate coverage for liability insurance for students would be the Professional Liability coverage, many programs are inappropriately insuring their students with Commercial General Liability Insurance. The CAATE strongly encourages programs to review their liability insurance coverage policy with their sponsoring institution’s legal counsel to ensure that use of the appropriate type of liability insurance coverage.