Capitol to Courthouse Florida Insurance Report: Wednesday, October 12

Oct 12, 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

 

1:00 p.m.–Citizens Property Insurance Corporation Board of Governors meeting.  Teleconference:  888-942-8686; conference code:  8419204389.  To view the meeting notice, click here.

 

 

Daily Insurance-Related News

 

Property insurer’s board reviewing sinkhole rates

The board of directors for the state’s largest property insurer is set to hear a presentation on increasing its rates.

 

Workers’ compensation rate hearing raises larger reform issues

The National Council on Compensation Insurance wants an 8.9 percent increase, while state officials and business owners said fraud and doctor-dispensed medications are driving up costs.

 

Homebuilder to pay $625,000 fine; chunk of that coming to Florida

The Ryland Group, one of the nation’s largest homebuilders, will pay a civil penalty of $625,000 to resolve alleged Clean Water Act violations at its various construction sites across the country.

 

Bill would make KidCare insurance available to state workers’ youngsters

In the wake of federal policy changes, Senator Nan Rich wants to widen the eligibility of the popular state children’s health insurance program.

 

Blog:  Bill would aid community pharmacies

Wading into a debate about mail-order prescriptions, two House members have filed a bill that would allow community pharmacies to dispense 90-day supplies of chronic-disease drugs to state employees, reports the News Service of Florida

 

State filing in elections law case challenges parts of Voter Rights Act

Florida broadens its case seeking approval of the four contested provisions of an omnibus elections bill passed this year to include a challenge to two provisions of the Voting Rights Act.

 

New revenue forecasts foreshadow budget shortfall in upcoming year

The General Revenue Estimating Conference revised revenue expectations downward by nearly $600 million for the current fiscal year, and $968.3 million for the upcoming year.

 

Focused on Jobs, Governor Rick Scott to Unveil 2012 Legislative Agenda

Job creation, with an emphasis on positions in high-tech fields, will remain Governor Rick Scott’s focus when he starts rolling out his agenda for his second year in office Wednesday in Orlando.

 

Latest numbers show what welfare drug testing is costing the state

According to the latest numbers from Florida’s new welfare drug testing requirements, the state is currently spending more money on drug testing welfare applicants than it is saving money by denying benefits to those applicants who fail the test.

 

Utilities, health care, gaming contribute to Q3 Republican fundraising haul

Large corporate donors to both Florida political parties ponied up a total of more than $6.4 million between July and September.

 

Amtrak Ranks Florida East Coast Line ‘Most Promising’ For Expansion

Long-discussed plans for returning passenger rail service to Florida’s East Coast got new life from an Amtrak report that ranks the dormant West Palm Beach-Jacksonville segment as “the most promising initiative for expansion.”

 

Give condemned inmates firing squad option, Florida lawmaker says

Representative Brad Drake wants to get rid of lethal injection and usher in execution by electrocution or firing squad.

 

Financial Stability Oversight Council Offers Details on How Insurers Could Be Designated “SiFi”

The Financial Stability Oversight Council — which came under intense pressure from insurers and their supporters in Congress to be more specific in disclosing the qualitative and quantitative standards that will be used in determining whether an institution is systemically significant-released today a much more detailed proposal for designating non-bank companies as “SiFi.”

 

Federal Regulators release plan for Volcker Rule limits on bank trading

Federal regulators unveiled a 298-page draft Tuesday outlining new rules to prevent big banks from trading for their benefit rather than on behalf of customers, nearly two years after the Obama administration endorsed such a measure.

 

Mississippi Supreme Court Considering Wind-Water Debate

The Mississippi Supreme Court is deciding a wind versus water case in which the National Flood Insurance Program paid the owners of a Pascagoula home damaged by storm surge from 2005’s Hurricane Katrina.

 

State Farm to Connecticut Hurricane Irene Victims:  No Break For You

Connecticut U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal has sent a letter to Edward Rust Jr., Chief Executive Officer of State Farm, asking the company to waive the higher deductibles that homeowners must pay for damage from Tropical Storm Irene, a request that the company is resisting.

 

West Virginia’s Bad-Faith Reforms Have Reduced Auto Liability Costs By $200 million

Today the Insurance Research Council announced the results of its recent report analyzing the impact of third-party bad-faith reforms adopted in West Virginia.

 

 

 

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