Insurers: ‘We’re here for you’

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio--With only a handful of carriers offering tailored coverage to HME providers, Cailor Fleming Insurance seeks to make inroads into the industry. Cailor Fleming has been making the rounds at state association meetings this year to educate providers about the importance of both product and professional liability coverage and, hopefully, pick up some business along the way. It hit Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania in 2008. “We want to do way, way more next year,” said Bill McMahon, an account executive. “We'd like to get down South.” Cailor Fleming, a broker for Penn-America, a Hatboro, Pa.-based insurance holding company that specializes in allied health, offers polices for, among other things, HME, O&P, sleep centers and medical equipment repair. One of its competitors, VGM Insurance, also seeks to increase its share of the pie. It recently hired Warren Freeman as director of sales and marketing, with an eye toward increasing its visibility. “We want to make sure we stay connected to our clients,” Freeman said. “Through e-mails, direct mail, advertising and trade shows-we want them to understand we're here for them.” While most providers have product coverage to meet state and vendor requirements, not all of them, especially mom-and-pop operations, have professional liability coverage. That's where some carriers see room for growth. “When you're filling a prescription for a wheelchair for a physician, that's professional exposure,” McMahon said. “If something happens, even if the physician is at fault, a lawyer isn't going to say, ‘We won't come after you.' He's going to go down the line.”