Capitol to Courthouse Florida Insurance Report: Tuesday, October 25

Oct 25, 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

 

(CANCELED) 10:00 a.m.–Florida Surplus Lines Service Office National Clearinghouse Committee meeting.  Agenda includes issues pertaining to the proposed national surplus lines tax clearinghouse.  To view the meeting notice, click here.

11:30 a.m.–Florida Automobile Joint Underwriting Association Board meeting.  Agenda includes discussion of the Servicing Provider Agreement.  Teleconference:  877-826-6967; conference code:  2867636526#.  To view the meeting notice, click here.

2:00 p.m.–U.S. House Committee on Financial Services Hearing:  “Insurance Oversight: Policy Implications for U.S. Consumers, Businesses and Jobs, Part 2″; Agenda includes testimony from Federal Insurance Office Director Michael McRaith.

 

 

Daily Insurance-Related News 

 

Florida Insurance Commissioner hikes workers’ compensation premiums by nearly 8.9 percent

Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty says drug repackaging is a “critical cost driver” in the system that needs fixing.

 

Brooksville legislators tackle sinkhole crisis

Community and government leaders Monday morning presented their wish lists for state legislators, asking them for help ranging from elderly care to help during tough economic times.

 

Blog:  Florida joins other states in pushing for court review of Medicaid expansion

Arguing they would be held “hostage,” Florida and other states filed a brief Monday imploring the U.S. Supreme Court to decide the constitutionality of a Medicaid expansion that is part of the 2010 federal health overhaul, reports the News Service of Florida.

 

States trimming Medicaid hospital coverage as cost-control measure

Although Florida’s 45-day annual limit has been in place for years, the state has looked at other ways to trim Medicaid coverages.

 

Blog:  Elder protection program divided as Florida retreats on assisted living facility inspections

When elder advocate Diane Carpenter entered Our Golden Home in 2008, she found an elderly woman languishing in a recliner, soaked in her own urine.

 

Court puts temporary stop to Florida’s welfare drug tests

The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida and a university student sued the state after he refused the drug test, contending it to be a violation of the Fourth Amendment.

 

Florida Public Service Commission signs off on nuclear cost recovery for Progress, Florida Power & Light

The Public Service Commission approved rate increases to pay for prospective nuclear projects by Progress Energy and Florida Power & Light.

 

Florida lost 10,000 jobs as stimulus funding winds down

Florida has lost about 10,000 jobs as contracts and grants from the federal stimulus program dry up, according to a new report from the Collins Center for Public Policy.

 

State Board of Administration chief Ash Williams defends $10,750 bill for public records request

Ash Williams, head of the State Board of Administration, on Monday defended his response to state Senator Mike Fasano’s “extraordinarily large” public records request and his decision not to fill an agency watchdog position, stances that earned him terse lashings from top elected officials just weeks ago.

 

Florida Governor Rick Scott’s proposal could cost area governments $37.7 million

A proposal by Governor Rick Scott could wring nearly $40 million in pension savings from local governments in Northeast Florida.

 

National Oceanic Atmospheric Association finds dwindling species in Florida Keys Marine Sanctuary

The National Oceanic Atmospheric Association has released its annual condition report for the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

 

How one Tampa address handles millions in campaign cash, influences elections nationwide

A little over a year ago, no-party gubernatorial candidate Bud Chiles stood outside an off-white single-story building with a carefully manicured lawn in suburban Tampa and said, “This building behind me is ground zero for what’s wrong with Florida politics.”

 

Industry Groups Turn to Nonadmitted Insurance Multistate Agreement States to Adopt Kentucky Compromise

Ten insurance trade groups have written representatives of states participating in the Nonadmitted Insurance Multistate Agreement in an attempt to get them on board with what is being called the “Kentucky compromise.”

 

New Models, Catastrophe Losses Could Drive Double-Digit 2012 Reinsurance Rate Increases, Experts Say

Almost every discussion of 2012 reinsurance rates for U.S. property risks touches on major changes in catastrophe models-both the recently released Risk Management Solutions version 11.0 U.S. Hurricane Model; and, to a lesser extent, AIR Worldwide’s revisions released last year but only now making their way through the system.

 

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