Capitol to Courthouse Florida Insurance Report: Monday, March 25

Mar 25, 2013

 

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

 

Florida’s 2013 Regular Legislative Session

  • Click here for today’s Senate block calendar
  • Click here for today’s House of Representatives block calendar

 

There are no Florida insurance-related events scheduled for today.

 

 

Daily Florida Insurance-Related News

 

Blog:  Citizens Property Insurance Board Omits Self From New Travel Rules

New travel rates for employees of Citizens Property Insurance won’t apply to board members, but rank and file workers at the company will have lower travel per diem under new rules approved by the board Friday, reports Jim Turner of the News Service of Florida.

 

8 firms interested in Keys windstorm study

Eight firms have expressed interest in conducting a study to determine the windstorm insurance risk in the Florida Keys.

 

New Sinkhole in Florida Town Puts Residents on Edge

We’ll start here with an unpleasant form of deja vu.

 

Blog:  State Files To Block Injunction Against PIP Law

Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty is asking a court to allow continued enforcement of the new Personal Injury Protection law, appealing an injunction a Tallahassee circuit court judge issued.

 

Severe storms bring damaging winds through Central Florida

A line of showers attached to a cold front moved through Central Florida, damaging wide areas Sunday.

 

Insurance payments taking over family budgets

Like many American families, the highest expense on the Iglesias family budget was the mortgage on their Pembroke Pines home.

 

Ft. Lauderdale’s Patriot National Appoints Northeast Regional vice president  in Pennsylvania

Workers’ compensation insurer Patriot National Insurance Group appointed Timothy O’Malley as the Northeast regional vice president.

 

Universal Health Care’s woes raise question for policyholders

Now that the state is moving to shut down Universal Health Care, what happens to the coverage of the nearly 140,000 people with Medicare and Medicaid plans?

 

Managed-care firms prepare to cash in on Medicaid overhaul

When they voted to kill the Medicaid expansion this month, Republican lawmakers knocked the government-run insurance program as flawed, costly and out of control.

 

House Speaker Will Weatherford says 85 percent of people covered by Medicaid expansion are single, childless adults

Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford offered a compelling personal story to emphasize his support for a robust social safety net despite his stance against expanding Medicaid under the federal healthcare law.

     

    Representative Holder rumored to be on short list for Lieutenant Governor replacement

    Florida Governor Rick Scott has said he will wait until after the current legislature session to appoint a replacement for recently resigned Lieutenant Governor Jennifer Carroll.

     

    Blog:  Ed Gray Enters Race For Ford’s House District 2 Seat

    Ed Gray, a well-known Gulf Breeze financier, announced over the weekend that he intends to run for House District 2, the seat held by Representative Clay Ford until his death from cancer on Monday.

     

    Blog:  Don’t Count Out Alex Sink Yet

    Don’t count out Alex Sink yet.

     

    House, Senate close on budget numbers, timeline, not policy

    The separation between the two chambers’ budget approaches is narrow, but possibly deep.

     

    Blog:  Rick Scott and Weatherford clash again, this time on House campaign finance bill

    A year after redistricting made legislative districts more competitive, the Florida House on Friday passed a campaign finance bill that raises contribution limits and appears to give incumbents a political advantage.

     

    Florida bankruptcy dispute ensnares U.S. Bank

    A businessman who says the bank wronged him has won a $6 million jury award. The nation’s No. 5 bank is evaluating an appeal.

     

    Petroleum tanks bill moving amid concerns about cleanup program

    With more than 7,000 contamination sites not eligible for cleanup, some legislators are interested in re-opening the cleanup program.

     

    House passes bill to outlaw sweepstakes cafes, adult gaming centers

    Internet sweepstakes cafes and adult gaming centers, storefronts with slot-like video games that operate in a legal “gray area,” took a big step to becoming completely blacked out.

     

    Florida lawmakers consider wage theft bill

    Businesses and workers-rights advocates are fighting over a bill that would set uniform state standards for employees who say they haven’t been paid their full wages to seek compensation.

     

    Revised charter school regulations move forward

    A bill regulating contracts, the use of tax dollars and giving charters access to public school facilities clears final committees.

     

    Lawmakers tackle school security

    Florida lawmakers are considering a variety of options – ranging from a safety survey of each school to adding more guidance counselors – to improve school security following the elementary school shooting tragedy in Connecticut last December.

     

    Lawmaker says session shows awakening of bipartisanship

    When and where did you first arrive in Florida? I consider myself almost a native Floridian.

     

    Immigrant Tuition Bill Heads To House Floor

    A measure allowing some children of undocumented immigrants to get in-state tuition is headed to the House floor after passing its last committee stop Friday.

     

    Commercial foreclosures in multimillions part of the landscape in Collier, Lee counties

    Foreclosures aren’t just for homeowners.

     

    Giant skeeter hysteria builds

    Here’s the latest in the long history of headlines about nature gone wild in Florida:  Millions upon millions of giant killer mosquitoes are massing, poised to stab humans with proboscises the size of steakhouse knives.

     

    Louisiana tops most expensive states for car insurance in 2013

    Louisiana is No. 1 — but not in a desirable way.  It has the highest average car insurance rates in the nation, followed by Michigan and Georgia, according to Insure.com’s annual state-by-state comparison of insurance premiums.

     

    Keogh Resigns as EQECAT President; Little Named to Succeed Him

    Bill Keogh has resigned as president of catastrophe risk modeling firm EQECAT, according to the company, and Paul Little has been named to succeed him.

     

    Supreme Court to Hear Drugmakers’ “Pay for Delay” of Generic Products Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments on Monday over whether big drug companies can settle patent litigation with generic rivals by making deals to keep cheaper products off the market.

     

     

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