Capitol to Courthouse Florida Insurance Report: Thursday, December 5
Dec 5, 2013
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
1:00 p.m.–Florida Automobile Joint Underwriting Association meeting. Discussion of Producer Review Committee procedures and duties. Teleconference: (877) 826-6967; conference ID: 2867636526#. To view the meeting notice, click here.
3:00 p.m.–Florida Health Insurance Advisory Board meeting. Discussion of 2013 market report. Teleconference: (866) 200-9760; conference code: 4288083#.
Daily Florida Insurance-Related News
Six insurers eyeing 151,000 Citizens policies
State regulators have approved six property insurers to remove up to 151,000 policies from state-run Citizens Property Insurance Corp. in February, Paul Owers reports for the Sun-Sentinel.
FIRM gets a new executive director
Fair Insurance Rates in Monroe, a grassroots organization that lobbies Tallahassee to keep Florida Keys property insurance low, has a new executive director, KeysInfo.net reports.
Tampa evicting dozens of Davis Islands boats
City officials have told 80 boat owners they have to hoist anchor and leave the Davis Islands Seaplane Basin, where some boats have been tied to illegal moorings for years, Tampa Tribune’s Kevin Wiatrowski reports.
To retain Florida doctors, Rick Scott announces $80 million residency program
Future Florida doctors will get a little extra help from the state through a new $80 million program for facilities such as All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, SaintPetersBlog.com’s Phil Ammann reports.
Florida lawmakers to tackle hospital problems
The local state legislative delegation is expected to take up Thursday the county’s controversial quest to create an irrevocable trust for a hospital pension and a separate measure to allow the county to remove its member on the board managing the pension, Panama City News-Herald’s Matthew Beaton reports.
USA Today: Florida, other states that reject Medicaid expansion lose money
The 20 states choosing not to expand Medicaid will lose billions of dollars in federal funds, according to a new study released Thursday, USA Today reports.
Florida lawyer convicted in $800 million Mutual Benefits fraud case, faces decades in prison
A South Florida attorney has been convicted for his role in an $800 million insurance fraud scheme involving investments in death benefits, Associated Press reports via FOX News.
A Jacksonville pension task force meeting this week will consider the merits of replacing the traditional pension with different retirement plans that have been enacted in other parts of the country, Florida Times-Union’s David Bauerlein reports.
Florida also leads nation in luxury home foreclosures
A surge in foreclosures of homes valued at $5 million or more might not be all bad, a new report suggests, since it may indicate banks and lenders are more capable of shouldering larger losses, The Florida Current’s Gray Rohrer reports.
Florida could benefit from ruling on online sales-tax collection
Florida could benefit from the U.S. Supreme Court dismissal of an Amazon.com appeal contesting a New York law, which requires the online retailer to pay state sales taxes, Peter Schorsch reports for SaintPetersBlog.com.
GOP Primary to Replace Bill Young is a Three-Candidate Race
There’s a tendency in political circles around Florida to assume the Republican primary battle to replace Bill Young in Congress comes down to David Jolly and Kathleen Peters. But David Bircher, a retired Marine Corps brigadier general making his political debut, should not be counted out, Jeff Henderson explains in SunshineStateNews.com.
Five Questions for Ellyn Bogdanoff
Former Republican state Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff of Fort Lauderdale is executive director of the Florida Association for Child Care Management, an association of private early learning providers with 1,200 members. She has held the post since 2012, THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA’s Margie Menzel reports via SunshineStateNews.com.
Sea-Level Rise Too Fast for Current Forecast Tools, Study Says
By the time climate change reduces crop yields or frequently floods New York City subways, it will be too late to avert damage without better forecasting tools, a panel of scientists said in a report released today, Bloomberg’s Jim Efstathiou Jr. reports via Insurance Journal.
Reinsurers to Lower Prices Following Weak Hurricane Season, Fitch Says
The quietest U.S. Atlantic hurricane season in decades will lead to a low double-digit fall in related catastrophe reinsurance pricing in the key 2014 renewals, according to experts at Fitch Ratings, Insurance Journal reports.
Spotlight shifts away from wind insurance costs, toward home mitigation at forum in Mobile
Much attention has been paid to the cost of property insurance along the Gulf Coast, the sky-high premiums and deductibles most homeowners cannot afford, Michael Finch II reports for Alabama.com.
The debate continues over a controversial Consumer Federation of America report released last month holding that only through California’s Proposition 103 has the state managed to control the cost of auto insurance-implying that in most other states, oversight of auto insurance is lax, and rates are therefore too high, National Underwriter’s Arthur Postal reports for PropertyCasualty360.com.
Texas Regulators Post Summaries of Property/Casualty Insurance Legislation for 2013
The Texas Department of Insurance has posted information and brief summaries of selected bills enacted during the 83rd Legislative regular session that relate to property/casualty insurance, Insurance Journal reports.
Alabama Trial Over Somali Pirate Attack on “Captain Phillips” Maersk Cargo Ship Delayed
A judge has delayed the trial over a lawsuit filed after Somali pirates took over the “Captain Phillips” U.S. cargo ship in 2009, Associated Press reports via Insurance Journal.
Coalition Against Insurance Fraud Reveals 2013 Hall of Shame
Mere moments away from unsealing the highly anticipated list of 2013 inductees to the “Insurance Fraud Hall of Shame,” James Quiggle, director of communications at the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud (known as The Coalition), is divulging some of the year’s highlights, or low lights (as it were) in a National Underwriter PropertyCasualty360 exclusive by Christina Bramlet.
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