Capitol to Courthouse Florida Insurance Report: Friday, May 20
May 20, 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 Workers’ Compensation Joint Underwriting Association Investment Committee meeting; To view the meeting notice, click here. To view the agenda, click here.
12:00 p.m.–National Association of Insurance Commissioners Surplus Lines Implementation Task Force. To pre-register, click here.
Regulators press Nationwide, MetLife on life insurance practices
Insurance commissioners from across the country grilled executives from Nationwide and MetLife Thursday in Tallahassee on their life insurance business practices.
Editorial: New insurance law speaks to Florida’s vulnerability
Consumers will pay more – that’s the one certainty from the array of changes to Florida insurance laws that Governor Scott signed this week.
In a record dry season, Lake Okeechobee keeps dropping
Every year in May, the end of Florida’s dry season, water managers obsess about the level of Lake Okeechobee, a major source of drinking and irrigation water in South Florida.
Time needed to evacuate region for hurricane: 60 hours
As another busy hurricane season looms, emergency managers in Southwest Florida and across the Gulf Coast are facing a new, daunting reality: More people will need to be evacuated when big storms threaten than previously thought.
Collier may expand challenge to newly proposed FEMA flood maps
As other areas of the nation struggle with flooding, Collier County officials have expanded a review of local flood plain maps to reassess which properties could be at risk or qualify for reduced insurance premiums.
Key guilty plea in huge Florida insurance fraud case
A lawyer’s decision to plead guilty in a $1 billion Florida Insurance fraud case could speed up things up for three others awaiting trial.
State wants to hire $2 million Medicaid consultant as soon as possible
The Agency for Health Care Administration wants a consultant hired and in place before the August 1 deadline to submit new waivers to the federal government necessary to get a remodeled Medicaid program up and running.
Governor Rick Scott signs controversial elections overhaul into law
Governor Rick Scott signed a sweeping elections proposal into law Thursday over objections of Democrats and voter-registration groups, who are now likely to take their case to the federal government or the courts.
- Blog: National Democrats invoke 2000 recount fiasco as Governor Scott signs elections bill
- Florida Secretary of State Kurt Browning defends elections law, says it will take effect immediately
Lawmaker’s son arrested for Medicaid fraud
Gregory Campbell, the son of Representative Daphne Campbell, was arrested earlier this month on charges that he bilked $299,000 from Medicaid during a 15-month period.
Governor Scott’s legal team: As state’s ‘Chief Executive,’ governor has authority over agency rules
Governor Rick Scott has responded to a legal challenge to executive orders he has issued, noting the state constitution holds that “supreme executive power shall be vested in a governor.”
Nearly $1 billion state contract triggers battle between rival pharmacy companies
CVS Caremark is challenging a decision by the state to award a new three-year contract to a rival company.
SB 2156 would transfer DCA’s Division of Community Planning to a new Department of Economic Opportunity, with 29 positions in that division being cut effective June 30.
Mud flies in Florida House race in Hialeah
The heated Florida House race on Tuesday’s ballot has boiled down to mudslinging – with one candidate labeled a “marionette,” another a Sandinista sympathizer and a state senator furious his name was used in a phony letter.
In Jacksonville mayoral loss, lessons for Florida GOP
Republican leaders said over and over in recent weeks that a race for mayor of Jacksonville amounted to the first big Florida fight in the 2012 presidential race.
Citrus growers ask for veto of changes driven by their own Senator J.D. Alexander
Members of the citrus industry are begging Governor Rick Scott to veto management shake-ups driven by one of their own, Senator J.D. Alexander.
Legislative session pays off for Port Manatee, other Florida ports
The state budget process has been painful for many: Public schools saw $1,3 billion in budget cuts; 4,000 state workers lost their jobs; hospitals saw a 12 percent reduction in Medicaid payments; and nursing homes got a 6.5 percent budget cut.
Florida holds more than $1 billion in unclaimed cash, property
A little-known Florida government office called the Bureau of Unclaimed Property sits on quite a nest egg, more than $1 billion dollars in unclaimed money and property that belongs to potentially hundreds of thousands of current and former Florida residents.
Jane Cline to Leave West Virginia Commissioner Post
Jane Cline, the 2010 president of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, will be retiring from her post as West Virginia insurance commissioner June 30.
USA Today: Texas lawmakers crack down on unethical agents
Texas lawmakers on Wednesday gave final approval to a crackdown on unethical sports agents that could lead to long prison terms.
Blog: When Regulators Side With the Industries They Regulate
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is one the most important bank regulators in the United States – an independent agency within the Treasury Department that is responsible for “national banks.”
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