Capitol to Courthouse Florida Insurance Report: Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Apr 7, 2015
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
11:30 a.m.–Florida Citizens Property Insurance Board of Governors meeting. Tallahassee, Florida. Teleconference: 888-942-8686; participant code: 5743735657#. Agenda includes discussion of 2015 pre-event financing. To view the meeting notice, click here.
1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.—Florida Senate Committee on Banking and Insurance meeting. To view the agenda, click here. To view the meeting packet, click here. Agenda includes consideration of the following bills, among others:
- SB 976 relating to Motor Vehicle Liability Insurance
- CS/SB 418 relating to Construction Defect Claims
Daily Florida Insurance-Related News
Florida Legislature Passes Electronic Insurance Documents Bill
The Florida Legislature has passed House Bill 273, which allows policyholders to receive insurance documents via email as opposed to regular mail delivery if they choose that option. Cindy Barth reports for the Orlando Business Journal.
Florida Van Crash Revives Concern About Safety of Vehicles
Federal transportation officials are investigating a crash that killed eight members of a Florida church who were riding in a type of van that has raised safety alarms for many years, the Associated Press’ Matt Sedensky and Jennifer Kay reports via Insurance Journal.
Florida Governor Rick Scott now against plan to extend health insurance to Florida’s poor
Republican Governor Rick Scott, once a tepid supporter of Medicaid expansion, expressed strong doubts Monday about a plan to extend federally subsidized health insurance to nearly 800,000 poor Floridians. Kathleen McGrory reports via the Bradenton Herald.
Feds Respond on Florida Medicaid Expansion Travails
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services explained yesterday that Medicaid expansion would benefit Florida, hospitals and patients and noted almost 30 states have accepted the federal monies. Kevin Derby reports for SunshineStateNews.com.
CFO’s priority bill on out-of-network emergency care killed by Senate?
A move to prevent Florida doctors and hospitals from balance billing insured patients who go out-of-network for emergency services and care appears dead for the 2015 Session, SaintPetersBlog.com’s Christine Jordan Sexton reports.
Florida Senate tackles pension reform Wednesday
With lawmakers worried about the financial health of local pension systems, the Florida Senate on Wednesday is scheduled to consider a bill aimed at shoring up the retirement plans for police officers and firefighters. THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA reports via the Florida Times-Union.
Florida Takes Aim At Professional Guardians
Professional guardians are the subject of several bills moving rapidly through the Florida Legislature. Critics and lawmakers themselves say many guardians are siphoning the assets of wards to pay for their exorbitant fees, the Palm Beach Post’s John Pacenti reports.
Texas Windstorm Insurance Association Transfers $262M Into Catastrophe Reserve Trust Fund
The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association has transferred $262.7 million into its Catastrophe Reserve Trust Fund as a result of its 2014 operations, Insurance Journal reports.
Louisiana Insurance Department Offers Early Retirement to Cut Costs
Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon gave some of his employees the chance to take an early retirement incentive, to help his agency balance its budget, the Associated Press reports via Insurance Journal.
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