Capitol to Courthouse Florida Insurance Report: Tuesday, March 25
Mar 25, 2014
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
8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.–Florida House Insurance and Banking Subcommittee meeting. Agenda includes consideration of the following proposed committee substitutes and proposed committee bill:
- PCS for HB 1089 relating to Property Insurance by State Representative Holly Raschein
- PCS for HB 1109 relating to Property Insurance by State Representative John Wood
- PCB IBS 14-02 relating to Public Records and Meetings/Insurance Flood Loss Model
2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.–Florida Senate Committee on Banking and Insurance meeting. Agenda includes consideration of the following bills and proposed committee bills:
- SB 1274 relating to Citizens Property Insurance Corporation by Senator Alan Hays
- SM 1538 relating to Terrorism Risk Insurance Act by Senator Aaron Bean
- SB 482 relating to Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund by Senator Alan Hays
- SPB 7110 relating to Ratification of Rules of the Office of Insurance Regulation
Daily Florida Insurance-Related News
Cat Fund fight dead for Session
The fight over the direction of the state’s reinsurance fund is essentially over for this year, The Florida Current’s Gray Rohrer reports.
Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Board Gets New Consumer Advocate Member
Citizens Property Insurance Chairman Chris Gardner welcomes Bette Brown as the first Consumer Representative on its Board of Governors.
Florida Legislature Seeks to Entice Private Insurers to Sell Flood Policies
The Florida Legislature is moving forward on a plan to entice private insurance companies to sell flood policies in the state that’s the most vulnerable to storm surge, Associated Press’ Jennifer Kay reports via Insurance Journal.
House Committee Approves Telemedicine Bill
Telemedicine in Florida received a substantial boost when a House panel approved a bill Monday, with supporters saying the use telecommunications in medicine would lower health-care costs and give Floridians broader access to care, explains Peter Schorsch for SaintPetersBlog.com.
Bill aims to close Florida cash-only clinic loophole
Cash-only medical clinics are allowed to skirt the licensing and regulation most other clinics are subject to, a loophole that a Florida lawmaker contends allows some of them to dispense drugs illicitly, Associated Press’ Steve Miller reports via the Tampa Tribune.
Florida fails in healthcare price transparency
A report examining healthcare price transparency gave passing grades to only five states, while most, including Florida, failed. Dan Chang reports for the Miami Herald.
Florida legislators won’t touch Medicaid expansion
Hospitals, powerful business alliances and grassroots advocacy groups still believe Florida should access the billions of federal dollars available for Medicaid expansion. The difference between this year and last: Nobody wants to talk about it. Kathleen McGrory and Tia Mitchell report for the Tampa Bay Times.
Vehicle fee cut won’t reach 756,000 Florida cars next year
Florida owners of more than 756,000 vehicles won’t see a discount on their registration fees next year, despite a bill awaiting Governor Rick Scott’s signature to cut the fees by $395 million per year, The Florida Current’s Gray Rohrer reports.
Local governments get relief in red light camera bill tweak, but consensus elusive
A provision preventing cities and counties from installing red light cameras at new intersections was removed from a bill in the House, but local governments are still concerned about proposed restrictions on how money from red-light-camera tickets can be used, The Florida Current’s Gray Rohrer reports.
Bills would prevent cities and counties from banning fuel terminals
Bills moving in the Legislature would undermine a community’s effort to regulate fuel terminals. The bills declare terminals a critical component in the distribution of fuel, allow them to expand and would permit local government to pass only regulations governing their appearance, The Florida Current’s Bruce Ritchie reports.
Senators Plan Multiyear Springs Restoration
A group of senators will move ahead with a plan to flood Florida’s natural springs with money, THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA’s Jim Turner reports.
In tiny Hampton, national shame will be hard to shake
The residents of Hampton have just weeks to prove their dysfunctional city deserves another chance, Tampa Bay Times’ Caitlin Johnston writes.
New Mississippi Law to Set Uniform Rules for Hurricane Deductibles
Mississippians will see uniform rules about when hurricane deductibles apply to their homeowners insurance under a law Governor Phil Bryant signed last week, Associated Press reports via Insurance Journal.
Texas Issues Special Data Call for Commercial Property Insurance Coverage
The Texas Department of Insurance is issuing a special catastrophe areas data call to property/casualty insurers who write direct commercial property and business owners insurance in Texas, Insurance Journal reports.
Jet’s Mystery Disappearance Leaves Riddles Over Who Is Liable
As the final hours of Malaysian Air Flight 370 remain wrapped in mystery, the question of who bears full liability for the jet’s disappearance is also unresolved, Bloomberg reports via National Underwriter’s PropertyCasualty360.com. As it stands, the airline is liable under international treaty for as much as $175,000 per passenger, and possibly more.
Arthur Postal’s Washington Report: Flood Bill Signed as Write-Your-Own Companies Wonder What’s Next
In the middle of the flood coverage debate are the Write-Your-Own insurance companies, two-thirds of which are members of the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, writes Arthur Postal for National Underwriter’s PropertyCasualty360.com.
World’s Most Ethical Property and Casualty Companies
Included on the recently released 2014 list of World’s Most Ethical Companies from the property and casualty insurance industry are The Hartford and Sompo Japan, Swiss Re (the only reinsurer named on the list) and Arthur J. Gallagher (the only brokerage), Caterina Pontoriero reports for National Underwriter’s PropertyCasualty360.com.
Maersk Sees Alliance of 3 Largest Container Shipping Lines Starting Mid-2014
An alliance of the world’s top three container shipping firms, which could control more than a third of the market, is likely to start operating in mid-2014, No.1 player Maersk Line said after the tie-up was approved by U.S. regulators, Reuters’ Ole Mikkelsen reports via Insurance Journal.
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