Medical Spa Insurance: What Insurance Retailers Need to Know

Medical spas, or "med spas," occupy a unique space between healthcare and personal wellness. They combine aesthetic procedures with medical oversight, which means they face a complex risk profile: part healthcare liability, part professional services exposure, and part traditional business operations.

For retail agents advising clients in this fast-growing sector, understanding the insurance coverages needed to safeguard a med spa is critical. Gaps can quickly turn into costly claims, whether from a procedure gone wrong, an employee misstep, or a data breach involving sensitive patient information.

This guide breaks down the essentials of medical spa insurance, the unique exposures med spas face, and what agents should prioritize when structuring these programs.

What Makes Medical Spa Risks Unique?

Unlike day spas or beauty salons, medical spas are regulated healthcare providers. Most states require them to be owned or overseen by licensed physicians, and procedures are often performed by nurse practitioners, physician assistants, or aestheticians under physician supervision.

This hybrid model creates several risk challenges:

• Medical professional liability: Claims can arise from botched injections, laser treatments, or other procedures that result in scarring, burns, or complications.
• General liability: Slips, falls, or injuries from equipment fall under traditional premises liability exposures.
• Product liability: Use of defective devices, injectables, or skincare products can result in product-related claims.
• Cyber liability: Because med spas handle personal health information (PHI), HIPAA violations and data breaches are significant concerns.
• Employment practices: High employee turnover and disputes over wages, hours, or workplace conduct can trigger employment-related claims.

Core Coverages for Medical Spas

A comprehensive medical spa insurance program typically includes multiple policies layered together. Here are the essentials:

1. Medical Professional Liability

Protects against malpractice claims tied to procedures, treatments, or medical oversight. Coverage should extend to all providers, including independent contractors, and be tailored to the specific treatments offered.

Key Features:

• Covers errors, omissions, or negligence in medical procedures
• Applies to doctors, nurses, physician assistants, and aestheticians
• Can be structured on a claims-made basis with retroactive coverage

2. General Liability

Responds to third-party claims of bodily injury or property damage occurring on premises. Even with a medical focus, med spas face traditional retail exposures like slips, trips, and equipment injuries.

Key Features:

• Premises liability for visitor injuries
• Personal and advertising injury (e.g., false advertising claims)
• Often required by landlords and lenders

3. Property Insurance

Covers the med spa’s physical assets, including furniture, medical devices, and computer systems. Specialized equipment like lasers and injectables can be costly to replace if damaged.

Key Features:

• Replacement cost or actual cash value options
• Business interruption coverage if the spa must close after a covered loss
• Can include coverage for equipment breakdown

4. Cyber Liability

With digital scheduling, payment processing, and patient data storage, medical spas are vulnerable to data breaches and ransomware attacks. Cyber liability addresses both regulatory and financial fallout.

Key Features:

• Breach notification and credit monitoring costs
• HIPAA fines and penalties (where insurable)
• Ransomware and data restoration expenses
• Business interruption from cyber events

5. Employment Practices Liability (EPLI)

Employment-related claims are increasingly common in personal services industries. EPLI helps defend against allegations of wrongful termination, harassment, or wage-and-hour disputes.

Key Features:

• Coverage for management decisions and HR practices
• Defense costs inside or outside the policy limits
• Can be endorsed onto package policies or written standalone

6. Workers’ Compensation

Required in most states, this covers workplace injuries. Given the use of needles, lasers, and chemicals, employee exposures are higher than in typical salons.

Common Gaps in Med Spa Coverage

Even when a med spa has insurance, exposures often slip through the cracks. Retail agents should watch for:

• Independent contractor coverage: Many providers are contracted rather than employed. If policies don’t extend coverage, gaps emerge.
• New procedures: As med spas add treatments (e.g., IV therapy, body contouring, microneedling), coverage must be reviewed to ensure those services are included.
• Claims-made pitfalls: Professional liability is often written on a claims-made basis. If coverage isn’t continuously maintained, prior acts may be excluded.
• Cyber exclusions: General liability policies typically exclude data breaches—dedicated cyber coverage is needed.

Example: A med spa adds vitamin therapy to its treatments but doesn’t update its malpractice policy. When a client suffers an adverse reaction, the insurer denies coverage because the procedure wasn’t scheduled.

Best Practices for Retail Agents

When placing medical spa insurance, retail agents can reduce client risk and avoid uncovered claims by following these steps:

1. Audit all procedures offered. Confirm that professional liability covers each specific treatment.
2. Verify provider status. Make sure both employees and independent contractors are covered under the policy.
3. Educate clients on claims-made coverage. Stress the importance of maintaining continuous coverage and purchasing tail coverage if operations close or switch carriers.
4. Recommend cyber coverage. With HIPAA liability, data breaches can devastate small operators.
5. Review employment practices. Advise clients on the importance of EPLI, especially if they have more than a handful of employees.
6. Bundle where possible. Packaging property, GL, EPLI, and cyber with the same carrier can reduce gaps and simplify claims.

Novatae’s Take: How We Support Retail Agents

At Novatae, we understand the hybrid risks that medical spas face. Our role is to help retail agents place tailored programs that protect both the healthcare and business aspects of their clients’ operations.

With access to admitted and non-admitted markets, we can:

• Structure medical professional liability tailored to specific procedures
• Combine GL, property, cyber, and EPLI into coordinated programs
• Negotiate coverage for independent contractors and new services
• Provide excess liability solutions for higher-limit needs

By working with Novatae, retail brokers can offer medical spa clients comprehensive protection while differentiating their service with specialized expertise.

Medical spas represent one of the fastest-growing sectors in the personal wellness industry, but their insurance needs are far from simple. The blend of medical procedures, retail-style operations, and regulatory requirements creates unique exposures that can’t be addressed with off-the-shelf policies.

For retail agents, understanding how to structure medical spa insurance programs is critical. From malpractice and cyber liability to employment and property coverage, the right combination ensures clients can grow confidently while avoiding costly uncovered claims.

Need help placing medical spa coverage? Contact Novatae’s liability specialists today to discuss custom solutions for your clients.

This article is not intended to be exhaustive, nor should any discussion or opinions be construed as legal advice. Readers should contact legal counsel or an insurance professional for appropriate advice.