California market
Three carrier systems group Imperial with San Diego County. One does not.
The county changes MIEC's geographic input, while the physician's facilities, duties, entities, and work dates still determine the rest of the quote.
Compare four carrier territory systems
Each carrier assigns Imperial County inside its own filed territory system.
| Carrier | Imperial County treatment | Counties in the same filed group | Filing record |
|---|---|---|---|
| TDC | Territory C | Imperial; San Diego | The Doctors Company, California Rate Pages, Edition 10/14, p. CA-R-1; CDI filing DCTR-129531290, approved 2014-08-07 |
| MedPro | Area 2 | Imperial; Kern; San Diego; Ventura | MedPro SR-CA-III-4 / RT-CA, Edition 07/01/13; CDI filing 13-3635 / SERFF MDPC-129010877, approved 2013-08-07 |
| NORCAL | Territory 3 | San Diego; Imperial; San Luis Obispo; Santa Barbara | NORCAL Mutual Insurance Company, California Medical Professional Liability Insurance Underwriting Manual, 08/01/2015 (corrected copy), pp. 7-11; CDI filing 14-7766;14-7767 / SERFF NCMC-129678275, approved 2015-09-28 |
| MIEC | 1.000 relativity | Northern California and Remainder of State | Medical Insurance Exchange of California, Countrywide Underwriting Manual - HPL (Rev 2-1-2023) with California State Exception Pages; CDI filing 20-4143 / SERFF PERR-132594120, approved 2023-02-07, effective 2023-02-01 |
In California Department of Insurance filings 14-4043, 13-3635, 14-7766/14-7767, and 20-4143, The Doctors Company, MedPro, and NORCAL place Imperial and San Diego counties in the same geographic rate group. MIEC places Imperial in its 1.000 group and San Diego in its 1.500 group.
This difference means that the counties do not always have the same geographic rate input. Check Imperial County in each carrier manual before you compare premiums.
MIEC separates Imperial and San Diego; the other three group them together
The Doctors Company places Imperial and San Diego in Territory C. MedPro places both in Area 2. NORCAL places both in Territory 3.
These groups also contain other counties. MedPro Area 2 includes Kern and Ventura. NORCAL Territory 3 includes San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara.
MIEC uses a different grouping. Its San Diego group has a 1.500 geographic rate multiplier and also includes Ventura. Imperial remains in the 1.000 group.
A San Diego practice that adds Imperial County work keeps the same territory under three carriers. Its MIEC territory changes. Disclose the new address, facility, duties, clinicians, and first work date when an application or policy requires those facts.
These Imperial County cities share one carrier territory
El Centro, Brawley, Calexico, Imperial, Holtville, Calipatria, Westmorland, and unincorporated Imperial County are in the same county. The four manuals do not use separate physician territories for these cities.
The work settings can differ. A physician can work in a hospital, clinic, skilled nursing facility, correctional setting, mobile clinic, or telehealth service.
Each assignment needs its own legal site, physician role, and work dates. Employee, independent-contractor, locum tenens, owner, and medical-director roles can rely on different contracts and policies.
Record each employment and contract arrangement
Imperial County work can come through a staffing company, hospital agreement, group contract, or temporary assignment. Review the insurance for each arrangement.
For every role, record:
- Employer or contracting party.
- Entity that bills for care.
- Legal facility name and street address.
- Specialty, procedures, call duties, and supervision duties.
- First and last work dates.
- Policy form, limits, and retroactive date.
- Party that must pay for tail coverage.
A contract can state that an employer will provide coverage. You still need the declarations page or certificate, policy form, limits, carrier, named insured, and coverage dates.
For locum tenens or moonlighting work, confirm whether the staffing policy covers only assigned work. Other work can need a separate policy.
Report mobile, home-based, and telehealth work
One office address does not describe mobile or home-based care. The location record must connect patient homes, mobile clinics, community sites, and temporary locations with the services performed at each place.
Also identify who provides the staff, equipment, drugs, and medical records.
For telehealth, record the physician's location and the patient's state. For licensing, treat the visit as occurring where the patient is located, then confirm that state's rule. Compare the states and services in use with the policy's territory and professional-services terms.
Identify the physician, professional entity, patient states, prescribing duties, supervision duties, clinical record, and emergency process. A technology vendor's name does not provide this information.
Use legal facility names
The California Department of Health Care Access and Information Facility Finder provides the legal name and type of each California facility. That public record should agree with the physician's privileges, staffing contract, and certificate of insurance.
A hospital campus can contain a hospital, clinic, physician group, imaging service, and laboratory. Shared grounds do not establish a shared employer or policy, so the employment contracts and policy documents must identify each operation separately.
If a physician takes call at more than one facility, list each facility and call schedule. Do not list only the main office.
Select the class before the territory rate
The Imperial County territory is one rate input. The physician's specialty and procedures determine the class input.
Separate hospital medicine, emergency care, primary care, obstetrics, surgery, procedures, supervision, and medical-director work. Include services performed outside the main employer.
Save the carrier class, county group, limits, policy form, and restrictions with each quote. If the carrier uses one broad class, keep the procedure list that supports the class.
Protect prior work when assignments change
A physician can work in Imperial and San Diego counties during the same policy year. Record the first Imperial work date and the last date under the prior arrangement.
For claims-made coverage, record the retroactive or prior-acts date for each clinician and entity. If the old policy ends, compare its extended-reporting provisions with any prior-acts coverage that the new policy expressly accepts. Different insureds can have different dates.
The carrier name can stay the same while the named insured, entity, limits, and work description change. Check the issued policy for each assignment.
Imperial County needs a carrier-specific territory check
The Doctors Company, MedPro, and NORCAL group Imperial with San Diego County. MIEC does not. A valid comparison must pair Imperial County with the physician's quoted class, disclosed services and locations, limits, policy form, and coverage dates on each quote.