Capitol to Courthouse Florida Insurance Report: Friday, November 18
Nov 18, 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.
The weak economy is hurting the property/casualty insurance industry in Florida. Florida’s insurance markets are among the biggest and most volatile in the U.S. and a strong insurance industry is in the best interest of policyholders and insurers and is essential to a healthy economy.
Marsh & McLennan acquires Seitlin Insurance
Seitlin Insurance Chief Executive Officer Tom Cornish Marsh & McLennan Agency LLC said it has acquired Seitlin Insurance, one of the largest insurance firms in South Florida.
Personal Injury Protection fraud costs Floridians $1 billion
Florida’s no-fault system is creating problems for Florida’s businesses and consumers.
Blog: Alleged staged accident caught on tape
The surveillance video below caught several passengers getting out of a white car before the driver backs up into the road.
Two Florida Senate committees to tackle assisted living regulations
The Health Regulation Committee, chaired by Rene Garcia, and the Children, Families and Elder Affairs Committee, chaired by Ronda Storms, will look to tackle different aspects of an overhaul of assisted living facility regulation.
Florida not alone with Medicaid prescription problems
Many states did not act on evidence of problems until last year when U.S. Senator Charles Grassley demanded data from each state about its highest prescribers of pain pills and antipsychotics, asking officials to determine whether the prescriptions written by these doctors were legitimate.
Blog: Bill targets public hospital deals
Renewing a heated debate from the 2011 session, Representative Ed Hooper, R-Clearwater, filed a proposal Thursday that could lead to circuit-court judges signing off on the sales or leases of public hospitals, reports the News Service of Florida.
House sets Friday vote on balanced budget proposal
With the federal government racking up deficits of more than $1 trillion a year and lawmakers paralyzed by political differences, the House on Friday is taking up a proposed constitutional amendment that would force Congress to balance its budget.
Florida Representative Bembry to seek 2nd District congressional seat
Leonard Bembry, a businessman and farmer, was elected to the state House in 2008 and re-elected in 2010. He challenges Republican Steve Southerland, elected to the congressional seat in 2010.
Teamsters union elected to represent corrections workers
The Teamsters union ousted the Police Benevolent Association as the leader of the bargaining unit for the Department of Corrections in election results announced Thursday.
Toll collection merger plan could be dead on arrival
Even Senator Don Gaetz, who failed in his effort to push through a complete merger of the expressway authorities earlier this year, says, “The bill won’t pass.”
While Associated Industries Touts Casinos, Chamber Rejects Genting’s $25,000 Check
The battle over “destination resorts” in Florida is pitting two of the state’s largest business organizations against each other, with one rejecting a casino company’s $25,000 check and bid for membership.
Next big catastrophe may not trigger another class of startups
Experts do not expect the next major catastrophe to result in an expansion of Bermuda’s reinsurance industry, as occurred after Hurricane Andrew in 1992, the terrorist attacks on the U.S. in 2001 and the series of hurricanes that hit the U.S. in 2005.
Louisiana Citizens Insurance Corporation Rolls Shrinking
Vijay Ramachandran, the chief operating officer of Louisiana Citizens Insurance Corporation, has announced that five private insurers will soon remove almost 11,000 homeowner policies from the company.
Massachusetts Home Insurance Rates Too High, Attorney General Says
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley is calling on the state’s regulators to take a close look at rates for homeowners insurance, which she sees as being too high because the hurricane forecasting models used as a basis for the rates are unreliable.
International Regulator Report Says Insurance Poses No Systemic Risk
Underwriting risks are typically not linked to the economic business cycle and financial market risks.
China May Open Auto Market to Foreign Insurers
The $31.53 billion auto insurance market is dominated by Chinese insurers but regulators aim to introduce more competition.
To unsubscribe from this newsletter, please send an email to Brooke Ellis at bellis@cftlaw.com.