Capitol to Courthouse Florida Insurance Report: Wednesday, December 21

Dec 21, 2011

 

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 Board of Employee Leasing Companies (“BELC”) Board meeting.  Teleconference:  (888) 808-6959; conference code:  9226020.  To view the meeting notice, click here.  To view the agenda, click here.

 

 

Daily Florida Insurance-Related Bills Filed for 2012

 

HB 4169 Relating to Insurance Company Excess Profits by State Representative Daniel Davis

HB 4169 would revise provisions of law prohibiting insurance companies from realizing excessive profits for writing certain lines of insurance coverage to delete workers’ compensation and employers’ liability insurance coverages from list of lines for which excessive profits are prohibited. Effective Date: July 1, 2012

 

 

Daily Insurance-Related News

 

Blog:  Report — Insurers create crises to raise rates

A new study by a consumer group in New York claims insurers manufactured problems at some points the past few decades to pump up profits.

 

Florida’s Citizens Pulls Back on Condominium Rate Hikes for Now

Florida condominium buildings that rent out 25 percent of their units will see no rate increase for now despite playing a key role in the state’s largest property insurer’s plan to reduce its policy count.

 

Insurance Information Institute:  Silence deafening on bank’s rescinding Florida sinkhole requirement

When Citizens Property Insurance had its sinkhole rate hearing in September, there were people ginning up the hubbub by proclaiming that “people would lose their homes because lenders required sinkhole coverage.”

 

Donovan Brown of the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America:  Stop PIP fraud in Florida NOW

As Florida drivers’ insurance rates continue to rise due to the state’s current no-fault system running rampant with fraud across the Sunshine State, we applaud the Florida Legislature for recognizing the need to transform the no fault system now and making it a priority this session. 

 

Florida commercial health insurance rolls dropping

Enrollment in commercial health insurance is continuing to decline in Florida.

 

THE NEWS SERVICE of FLORIDA:  Fewer Floridians have private health care insurance

With the economy continuing to struggle, the number of Floridians with private health insurance continued a steady decline in 2010, according to a report approved Tuesday by the Florida Health Insurance Advisory Board.

 

Medicare fraud bill reintroduced

U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, has reintroduced legislation that would double the fines and jail time for people convicted of Medicare fraud.

 

Bondi offers rewrite to fix flawed constitutional ballot question

A Tallahassee circuit court judge last week ordered the amendment off the ballot because the summary was misleading.

 

Florida Governor Scott urges more lottery ticket sales to help schools

Although Rick Scott has said he doesn’t want to depend on gambling to help balance the state budget, he says he wants to boost lottery ticket sales to help finance schools.

 

Session Outlook:  The 2012 Florida Legislature

The Florida Current begins its series looking at the upcoming legislative session.

 

Awake the State plans rallies for first day of legislative session

Awake the State will hold protests targeting Gov. Rick Scott and the GOP-led Legislature all over the state on the first day of Florida’s legislative session, Jan. 10.

 

Louisiana Citizens Owes More than $100M to Policyholders, High Court Says

Louisiana’s highest court has reinstated a nearly $100 million judgment against the state’s property insurer of last resort in a class action lawsuit stemming from Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

 

State Farm to Appeal $310 Million Refund Order in Texas

State Farm Lloyds in Texas is asking an appellate court to rethink an order requiring it to refund $310 million in premiums to policyholders.

 

RIMS:  The States Botched Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act; Federal Oversight Needed

State-based insurance regulation has an “inherent weakness”-the ability to stray from or misinterpret national standards or model laws, says the Risk and Insurance Management Society Inc.

 

Congress Kicks National Flood Insurance Program Can Down the Road, Barely

The National Flood Insurance Program is operating on a temporary reauthorization that expires Friday as Washington continues to play winner-take-all politics.

 

U.S. forecaster sees tame 2012 hurricane season

The 2012 Atlantic hurricane season should be relatively tame with a total of 12 named storms and seven hurricanes, a U.S. private weather forecaster said on Tuesday.

 

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