Capitol to Courthouse Florida Insurance Report: Friday, August 3

Aug 3, 2012

 

To go directly to the section of your choice, click on a hyperlink below.  Other hyperlinks to meeting information, bills and news are noted in bold type.




Daily Florida Insurance-Related Events

10:00 a.m.–Florida Division of Workers’ Compensation (“DWC”) Proposed Rule Hearing.  Proposed amendments to the Rules below would revise the process by which health care providers meet the minimum criteria for certification pursuant to Section 440.13(3)(a), F.S., as well as introduce the “Florida Workers’ Compensation Health Care Provider Certification Tutorial,” a free online resource that implements an electronic certification process for health care providers.  To view the hearing notice, click here. 

2:00 p.m.–DWC Proposed Rule Hearing.  Proposed amendments to Rule 69L-7.602, “Florida Workers’ Compensation Medical Services Billing, Filing and Reporting Rule,” would clarify that insurers are required to provide notification to health care providers in cases where payment of reimbursement for medical services will be subject to apportionment.  It also would delete a penalties provision that was previously moved to Rule Chapter 24, F.A.C.  To view the hearing notice, click here.

3:00 p.m.–DWC Proposed Rule Hearing.  Proposed Rule 69L-3.017, “Notice of Apportionment of Medical Reimbursement Due to a Pre-Existing Condition(s),” would address the apportionment of benefits by claims administrators under Section 440.15(5), F.S.  It would clarify that claims administrators are required to provide employees seeking medical services for dates of injury on or after October 1, 2003 with notification in cases where the payment of a medical benefit will be subject to apportionment.  To view the hearing notice, click here.

 

 

Daily Insurance-Related News

 

No one’s laughing in Temporary Increase in Coverage Limit tiff

Two insurance companies are seeking to avoid paying for optional coverage in the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund they initially signed up to accept.

 

Universal asks for 22 percent hike in homeowner insurance rates

Citing large losses from sinkhole claims and uncertain results of legislation aimed at curbing them, officials from the Universal Insurance Co. of North America asked state regulators Thursday for a 22 percent statewide average increase in homeowner policy rates.

 

20th Anniversary of Hurricane Andrew: Impact Endures for Insurance Providers and Policyholders in Coastal States

A new Insurance Information Institute white paper, Hurricane Andrew and Insurance: The Enduring Impact of an Historic Storm, outlines six key insurance market changes attributed to the costliest disaster in Florida history.

 

Emergency managers rip Governor Rick Scott’s rankings of counties

Governor Rick Scott’s office has finalized the grading of county emergency management offices, giving all but two of the state’s 67 counties “exemplary” scores.

 

South Florida has problem bridges, website says

When drivers cross the Camino Real bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway in Boca Raton, few probably realize the 73-year-old span is in such poor condition that the failure of one major part could cause its collapse.

 

State ready to revamp Medicaid payments to hospitals 

With the hospital industry closely watching, the state is moving forward with a plan to revamp the way hospitals get paid to care for Medicaid patients.

 

Medicaid bill for counties cut in half, though objections remain

The amount of money the state says counties owe for unpaid Medicaid bills has been cut nearly in half.

 

State returns record $211 million in unclaimed property to Floridians

Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater last week said that more than $211 million in unclaimed cash and property was returned to Floridians during Fiscal Year 2011-12 – nearly 12 percent more than the previous fiscal year.

 

THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA:  Lawyers for Greer, Party Clash on Settlement Talks

The civil and criminal cases surrounding embattled former Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer took another bizarre turn Thursday, with Greer’s attorney and a lawyer for the party disagreeing over whether the sides are discussing a potential settlement.


Hialeah absentee-ballot broker Cabrera arrested; state attorney recuses herself from ongoing case

A Hialeah boletera at the center of a weeklong absentee-ballot investigation that muddied the Miami-Dade mayor’s race was arrested Thursday after police say she fraudulently obtained an absentee ballot from a terminally ill woman in a nursing home.

 

Florida business landlines now outpace residential landlines

The number of business telephone landlines in Florida exceeded the number of residential landlines in 2011 for the first time since the Florida Legislature began requiring an annual telecommunications report in 1995, the Florida Public Service Commission said in the report released today.

 

New state Website reports only on state successes 

Nine months after legislative leaders asked Governor Rick Scott’s jobs agency to provide access to information on the millions of tax dollars doled out to companies each year, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity has answered the call sort of.

 

Florida Board of Education selects interim education commissioner

The Florida Board of Education Thursday selected K-12 Chancellor Pam Stewart to be interim education commission when Gerard Robinson leaves on August 31. 

 

Farmers Raises Rates in Alabama; Pulls Wind Coverage on Coastal Rental Policies

One of Alabama’s largest homeowners’ insurers is raising rates on property insurance by as much as 35 percent per policy while dropping some 2,900 rental properties along the state coastline as part of plan to shore up its financial resources.

 

Thomson Reuters Establishes Connecticut’s First Captive Insurance Co.

Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy announced today that international media and information company Thomson Reuters has relocated its U.S. insurance subsidiary from Delaware to Connecticut.

 

Top 10 Most Sensational Fraud Stories of the First Half of 2012

Anxious consumers and businesses are increasingly turning to insurance fraud to escape financial turmoil, giving little thought to the very real consequences of perpetuating this serious crime.

 

 

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