Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Tuesday, July 20
Jul 20, 2010
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Blog: Florida Insurance Commissioner Slammed For Keeping Insurer’s Problems Secret
Consumer advocacy and free market groups joined Rep. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla, today to call for more transparency from the Office of Insurance Regulation about insurers that are in trouble.
News Release: BIPT and Focus Technologies Combine Forces to Expand Offerings
BIPT, inc. a leading provider of integrated, end-to-end insurance solutions and Focus Technologies, LLC, the technology arm of Focus Holdings, LLC, an insurance focused group of companies offering a wide array of products and services to the property and casualty industry, have joined forces to broaden the scope of products and services to the insurance industry.
Universal North America to add 80 jobs in Sarasota
Insurer is consolidating its U.S. headquarters
Insurer Universal North America says it will add about 80 jobs in the next year as it consolidates its U.S. headquarters here.
Fire response training center opens in Broward
Scope of training enables maintenance of ISO-certified Class I ratings
Hollywood’s newest fire training center used to be a garbage dump.
Florida’s Brown & Brown 2nd-qtr profit edges up 1 percent
Brown & Brown Inc. on Monday said its second-quarter profit edged up 1 percent as the insurer contained expenses while revenue dipped.
Neighbors worry Tampa sinkhole is still growing
Officials still are not certain if they’ve got a handle on that huge sinkhole in North Tampa that swallowed a car and is now threatening an apartment building.
Storm-battered Mississippi city to get hurricane-resistant homes built in Florida
A community of hurricane-resistant concrete homes will soon rise in the storm-battered city of Gulfport, Miss., under a new contract acquired by Royal Concrete Concepts.
News Release: Florida CFO Alex Sink Announces New Online Tool for Injured Employee Benefits
Florida CFO Alex Sink today announced a new tool created by her Division of Workers’ Compensation that allows injured employees to estimate their wage replacement benefits when injured on the job.
Blog: McCollum announces $27M Medicaid fraud settlement
Shoring up his consumer protection creds, Attorney General Bill McCollum announced a $27 million Medicaid fraud settlement and three separate lawsuits against timeshare re-sale companies.
Rhoden Joins Guarantee Insurance in Florida
Chris Rhoden has joined Guarantee Insurance Co., a subsidiary of Patriot Risk Management, Inc., as an underwriter for alternative markets.
McCollum calls for lawsuit caps and “medical homes”
Attorney General Bill McCollum, who filed a lawsuit earlier this year to block federal health care reform, released his own detailed health care proposal on Monday that calls for reviewing health insurance mandates, lowering caps on lawsuits against doctors and increasing the number of medical residency programs in Florida.
Party-line vote ends Florida’s oil drilling ban special session
The Florida House abruptly adjourned a special legislative session after 49 minutes Tuesday, rejecting Gov. Charlie Crist’s proposal to let voters place a permanent ban on offshore drilling in the Florida Constitution.
State Representative Evers proposes Arizona-style immigration bill
State Rep. Greg Evers on Monday filed a proposal to crack down on illegal immigration.
Wall Street Journal: Crist Uses His Old Party as a New Foil
Senate Push Gains as Florida Governor Sets Himself Off Against State’s GOP, With Some Firepower From Obama Camp
Florida’s Republican-led legislature will gather Tuesday on the order of Gov. Charlie Crist-and then is expected to quickly refuse his call for a state-constitution ban on offshore oil drilling in Florida waters.
Three Republicans vie to succeed Bogdanoff in coastal House seat
Ellyn Bogdanoff’s decision to seek higher office this year has set off a battle along the Broward-Palm Beach coast between three Republicans over the chance to follow in her footsteps to the state House.
Florida Legislature OKs $50 million to lure Jackson Labs branch
The effort to bring Jackson Labs to Collier County has taken a giant step forward with the Florida Legislature’s approval of funding required to lure the company here.
Bill Adding Wind To National Flood Insurance Program Introduced, May Be Discussed This Week
The House will likely consider legislation on Thursday that would add wind coverage to the National Flood Insurance Program, a plan opposed by the insurance industry.
National Conference of Insurance Legislators Panel Amends Market Conduct Model
A National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) panel has deferred final action on a proposed Market Conduct Annual Statement Model Act until November.
Judge Rejects Insurers’ Bid to Nix Probe into Oxendine Donations
A Fulton County judge tossed an attempt by two insurance companies that sought to block an ethics investigation into contributions to Republican gubernatorial hopeful John Oxendine.
Sacramento Considers Crash Tax for Out-of-Town Motorists
Sacramento is the latest local government in California to consider imposing a tax on out-of-town motorists who are involved in local auto accidents, which many insurers oppose, according to Sam Sorich, president of the Association of California Insurance Companies.
Louisiana Insurance Commissioner: Legislative Session Successful
Louisiana Commissioner of Insurance Jim Donelon reports that the recent state legislative session was successful for insurance bills, as far as the Louisiana Department of Insurance is concerned.
Wisconsin loses lawsuit over malpractice insurance fund transfer
The state must pay back $200 million it raided from a medical malpractice fund to help balance the budget in 2007, a divided Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday.
Risk Managers Not Satisfied With U.S. Insurance Providers’ Service
Corporate risk managers report a serious and growing disconnect between themselves and their insurance brokers and carriers.
COMMENT: US insurance regulators push back against Solvency II
Until recently it seemed that Solvency II was being billed as the template that the rest of the world’s regulation would inevitably follow.
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