Gerald Zarlengo, MD, Chairman & CEO, Copic Insurance Company

This year marks the 40th anniversary of Copic. It is a milestone we are honored to celebrate and a testament to the purpose that was set forth by our founders. We are still guided by principles that connect back to our early years and remain relevant as we grow and evolve. 

While our core business is medical liability insurance, Copic has always strived to do more than traditional carriers and use our role in health care to give back on a broader level:

• We provide medical professional liability insurance at no charge to eligible Colorado physicians who provide uncompensated medical care. 
• Copic’s legislative advocacy work is more vital than ever, and our partnerships with organizations such as the Colorado Medical Society and Colorado Hospital Association enable us to monitor and address legislation that impacts health care. 
• Our ability to provide education extends into a long-standing medical resident rotation and involvement with medical schools that draws upon our insight to help prepare the next generation of physicians. 
• The Copic Medical Foundation continues its goal of being a catalyst for innovative ideas through grant funding and other support that aim to improve health care outcomes.
• We believe in using our decades of experience to keep providers and patients safe, proactively. During my tenure as CEO, I am reminded of this every day and why we do what we do. I also understand that to appreciate what Copic has become, we need to look back at how the company emerged to protect health care in Colorado.

We believe in using our decades of experience to keep providers and patients safe, proactively. During my tenure as CEO, I am reminded of this every day and why we do what we do. I also understand that to appreciate what Copic has become, we need to look back at how the company emerged to protect health care in Colorado.

Copic’s history

It was the early 1980s. Malpractice cases across the country had increased in frequency and severity. Awards skyrocketed and national insurance companies began to bail from unprofitable states. The companies that remained raised rates. Copic’s physician founders feared the worst: without affordable liability insurance, doctors would leave Colorado. This would threaten the health and wellbeing of everyone in the state.

With support from the Colorado Medical Society, our founders went to work. They formed a team of business experts who understood their vision. They also challenged the notion that a bunch of doctors could run an insurance company. The founding doctors knew medicine and understood their peers. Business advisors agreed – preventing claims and teaching doctors to practice safely benefited everyone.

But they still needed to sell their idea to the doctors they would insure. So our physician founders went on the road. They drove countless hours to meet Colorado’s 3,200 practicing physicians and shared their desire to make our state a great place to practice medicine. And they asked doctors to pledge $100 to fund this vision. Each $100 bill collected strengthened the medical society’s self-insurance trust. By 1984, and with additional funding from the Colorado Medical Society, this trust became Copic Insurance Company, a fully licensed professional liability insurance company. To this day, the Copic Trust continues to operate in a way the puts the needs of physicians and the medical community first because it is not beholden to the profit motives of shareholders. 

Copic Timeline

• 1984: Copic becomes a fully licensed and regulated Colorado insurance company.
• 1985: Copic Financial Service Group is formed to expand the line of insurance and financial products.
• 1988: Copic worked alongside the Colorado Medical Society to support the passage of the Health Care Availability Act, which created critical tort reforms and stability for medical providers.
• Early 1990s: Copic introduces educational seminars and practice reviews conducted by nurses to support improvements.
• 1991: Copic Medical Foundation is created as a nonprofit to provide grant funding and other support to the medical community.
• Early 2000s: Medical liability tort reform experiences setbacks when a pair of decisions by the Colorado Supreme Court leads to premium volatility. Copic responds with advocacy efforts that help to reintroduce premium stability. 
• 2007: Copic’s 3Rs Program is recognized by The New England Journal of Medicine as part of a national transformation in how medical providers communicate with patients after adverse outcomes. 
• 2016: Copic becomes accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education.
• 2017-2018: Copic earns endorsements from the Iowa Medical Society, Minnesota Medical Association, Utah Medical Association, South Dakota State Medical Association, and North Dakota Medical Association, in addition to long-standing endorsements with the Colorado Hospital Association, Colorado Medical Society, and the Nebraska Medical Association.
• 2019: Copic is part of a coalition that extends the Colorado Professional Review Act, which improves care and promotes patient safety.
• 2022: Copic Medical Foundation hosts the first Grantee Summit so grant recipients can connect and collaborate.

Created by doctors, for their peers in medicine

Today, Copic remains physician-directed. Having expanded our regional footprint to become the leading carrier in the Midwest/Rocky Mountain region, we have the strength and stability to support physicians, other health care providers, and facilities. We’re proud of the support we can offer and how this helps to deliver high-quality care for patients. Our success is, in large part, because we’ve stayed true to our founders’ vision to improve medicine in the communities we serve.

I feel honored to be part of Copic’s history and celebrate how our past has enabled us to continue to serve Colorado’s health care community, now and into the future.