Capitol to Courthouse Florida Insurance Report: Monday, October 8
Oct 8, 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
2:00 p.m.–Florida Workers’ Compensation Joint Underwriting Association Board of Governors meeting. To view the agenda, click here.
House Speaker wants Legislature to review Citizens Property Insurance plans
The plan to loan $350 million to private insurers from the surplus account of Citizens Property Insurance Corp. hit a major roadblock Friday, when the incoming speaker of the Florida House asked the state-run insurer to halt the program and submit it for legislative review.
Florida Senator John Thrasher: Financial relief we cannot pass up
Citizens Property Insurance Corporation was created to be Florida’s insurer of last resort for those who could not access coverage anywhere else.
Tom Feeney: Don’t let dirty little secret become a nightmare
There is a dirty little secret in Florida.
Editorial: Citizens Property Insurance plan looks like $350 million boondoggle
In 2008, the Legislature swiped $250 million from the surplus of Citizens Property Insurance Corp.
Letter to the Editor: Stop Citizens Property Insurance spending spree
On September 10, Florida’s chief inspector general reported that executives of Citizens Property Insurance have “routinely spent beyond the state’s legal limits on travel and meal expenses” including international travel.
Find reasonable solution to Citizens Property Insurance dilemma, don’t punish policyholders
There are no easy solutions to the mess wrought by Citizens Property Insurance Inc.
Caught in Citizens Property Insurance homeowners insurance jam
Caught between a rock and a hard place.
Column: Switch from Citizens Property Insurance to private insurers a crapshoot for consumers
Like thousands of other South Florida homeowners insured by state-run Citizens, I got a letter last week from a private insurer informing me they would be taking over my policy in 30 days – unless I opt out.
Column: Citizens Property Insurance Need Not Loan
The insurance consumer advocate for Florida on Monday released a long series of concerns about a plan of the state-owned Citizens Property Insurance Corp. to loan $350 million from its surplus fund to private insurance companies.
If not Citizens Property Insurance, who will insure your house?
You’re among tens of thousands of Citizens Property Insurance customers getting notice in the mail this week that one of five private insurers wants to assume your homeowners policy.
Editorial: Who will stand up for Florida consumers?
For all the focus on the federal deficit in the presidential campaigns, decisions closer to home are already taking a big bite out of Floridians’ wallets.
Florida’s Medicaid program in limbo
Millions of uninsured Florida families and health care providers are in a purgatory of sorts.
Florida Drug Database Rarely Used by Doctors
One year ago, Florida created a weapon meant to help stop the prescription drug epidemic that kills an average of more than six people a day in this state.
THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA: Florida Supreme Court Justices hit back at critics
Three justices of the Florida Supreme Court used a forum Friday at Florida State University to hit back at their critics, while campaign filings showed the trio had raised more than $1 million for their electoral defense.
Spending heavy in 3 Florida Senate races that could tip power
In his first run for a state office, a Volusia County commissioner is heading into the final month of the 2012 campaign with more money in his account than a veteran Republican lawmaker.
THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA: Nancy Soderberg Competitive in Florida Senate District 4 Money Chase
When former Representative Aaron Bean won a nasty Republican primary in August, it looked like he might have cleared the biggest hurdle in his bid to represent Northeast Florida in the state Senate.
Blog: In House District 63, Shawn Harrison has big cash haul
With a major boost from the state Republican Party, Representative Shawn Harrison brought in $61,825 between September 15 and September 28 for his House District 63 race, newly filed records via the News Service of Florida show.
Blog: Dorothy Hukill collects another $32,000 for Florida Senate District 8 battle with Frank Bruno
In a closely watched Senate race, state Representative Dorothy Hukill, R-Port Orange, collected $32,114 in contributions between September 15 and September 28, giving her an overall total of $427,951, newly filed reports via the News Service of Florida show.
Blog: Aaron Bean adds $46,000 during latest fundraising period for Florida Senate District 4 race
After emerging from a fierce primary battle, former Representative Aaron Bean raised $46,330 between September 15 and September 28 as he tries to hold off Democrat Nancy Soderberg in Senate District 4.
Florida the ‘Wild West’ for third-party Political Action Committees
Nancy Watkins’ accounting office on a leafy street in Tampa may be one of the scariest addresses in Florida – for Democrats.
With construction lag, Sarasota County housing stock ages
If the big one hits, it might be better to live in Manatee County than in Sarasota County.
Ethics commission readies reform “wish list” for Florida lawmakers
Although election season is still in full swing, the Florida Commission on Ethics is readying its wish list for lawmakers when they leave the campaign trail and return to the capital.
Opening for “pari-mutuel barrel racing” on Friday, despite an imminent court ruling on the legality of its racing license, Creek Entertainment Gretna concurrently announced on its Web site that its remaining “open races” for 2012 have been canceled “due to low attendance.”
Plan to expand online classes in Florida meets resistance
Hundreds of South Florida students are taking classes from Virginia-based K12 Inc., the nation’s largest online education company.
Michael McRaith, director of the Federal Insurance Office in the Treasury Department, has been named to head the Technical Committee of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors, the group’s influential policy-developing body.
The impact of the recession, legislative and regulatory reforms and the growing costs of medical care on workers’ compensation system performance are among the key developments addressed in the latest edition of the Workers Compensation Research Institute’s CompScope reports.
Wal-Mart Employees in Florida Claim Gender Bias in Lawsuit
Three female Wal-Mart Stores Inc. employees have filed a lawsuit in South Florida claiming the retail giant discriminates against women in areas such as wages and promotion opportunities.
Halloween is a fun time of year with costumes, pumpkins and decorations.
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