Closed ATM View - Health 19-20/84395
provision of professional indemnity insurance to privately practicing midwives
The Department will be undertaking a procurement process to engage an insurer for the administration of the MPIS. Through this EOI, the Department will determine the appropriate procurement method for this process, and this will be informed by the level of interest shown by insurers in participating in the MPIS.
Submissions are sought from Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) authorised indemnity insurers to gauge the level of interest in administrating the MPIS on behalf of the Commonwealth.
To provide professional indemnity insurance for privately practicing midwives, successful insurers must:
· Develop and offer professional indemnity insurance products (MPIS and Run-Off Cover) for private midwives recognised as ‘eligible’ by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (“the NMBA”). The insurance product must be developed to meet the requirements of the Act and associated legislation. A qualifying claim is defined in the Act. The product will also need to include appropriate risk management strategies.
The MPIS product is limited to private ‘eligible’ midwives. An eligible midwife is a registered midwife who meets the additional requirements specified in the Midwife Professional Indemnity (Commonwealth Contribution) Scheme Rules 2010, that is the person must be endorsed by the NMBA under section 94 of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law to prescribe schedule 2, 3, 4 and 8 medicines and to provide associated services required for midwifery practice in accordance with relevant state and territory regulation. This requirement reflects the NMBA standard for eligible midwives;
· Manage claims made and incidents notified during the operation of the MPIS and eligible run-off claims during and after this period;
· Provide each eligible midwife who has purchased an eligible midwife insurance product with medico-legal and business support that the successful insurer can demonstrate is consistent with similar support services for other health professionals.
· Provide annual data to the Commonwealth regarding the administration of the MPIS and the Run-off Cover Scheme which is published by the Australian Government Actuary and available on the Department of Health’s website. An example report is available at: http://www.aga.gov.au/publications/runoff_cover_2018/downloads/ROCS_Midwives_2017-18.pdf.
· Provide de-identified data about midwives accessing the MPIS and the administration of claims to the Commonwealth; and
· Provide an Annual Report to the Commonwealth on the administration of the MPIS.
No conditions
July 2020