Capitol to Courthouse Florida Insurance Report: Tuesday, September 20
Sep 20, 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
9:00 a.m.–Florida Cabinet meeting. To view the agenda, click here.
- Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (“OIR”)
- For final adoption
- 69O-164.020: Valuation of Life Insurance Policies
- Rule amendments would revise the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (“NAIC”) Model Regulation that reduces the minimum premium deficiency reserve requirement, subject to certain conditions to ensure adequacy of reserves.
- 69O-162.203: Adoption of 2001 Commissioners Standard Ordinary Preferred Mortality Tables for Determining Reserve Liabilities for Ordinary Life Insurance
- Rule amendments would revise the NAIC Model Regulation, explain the conditions for use of the preferred class structure mortality tables and permit use of the mortality tables for policies issued prior to the adoption date of the original Rule.
- 69O-138.047: Description of Actuarial Memorandum Including an Asset Adequacy Analysis and Regulatory Asset Adequacy Issues Summary
- Rule amendments would revise the NAIC Model Regulation by adding an additional requirement to the Regulatory Asset Adequacy Issues Summary as a result of changes to Rules 69O-162.203 and 69O-164.020, F.A.C.
- 69O-138.001: NAIC Financial Condition Examiners Handbook Adopted
- Rule amendments would adopt the newest version of the NAIC Financial Condition Examiners Handbook used in examining insurers’ financial condition
- 69O-164.020: Valuation of Life Insurance Policies
- Appointment of Raquel Rodriguez to the Florida Workers’ Compensation Joint Underwriting Association Board of Governors
- Approval for the OIR to Contract with Examination Resources, LLC, to conduct the Workers’ Compensation Peer Review
- For final adoption
9:30 a.m.–OIR Proposed Rule Hearing. Consideration of revisions to Form OIR-B1-1802, also known as the “Uniform Mitigation Verification Inspection Form,” which is incorporated by Rule 69O-170.0155. To view the hearing notice, click here.
(CANCELED) 10:00 a.m.–Florida Surplus Lines Service Office (“FSLSO”) National Clearinghouse Committee meeting. Agenda includes issues pertaining to the proposed national surplus lines tax clearinghouse. To view the meeting notice, click here.
10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.–FSLSO Budget Committee meeting. To view the meeting notice, click here.
1:30 p.m.–House Insurance and Banking Subcommittee.
- Presentations and discussion on reinsurance in the property insurance market
Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty dramatically reduced the amount that the state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp. can charge home and business owners for sinkhole coverage late Monday.
Citizens Property Insurance Sinkhole Hike Request Sunk
State regulators sign off on scaled-back rate hike for Citizens
State insurance regulators late Monday rejected the basis for Citizens’ sinkhole rate hike, slashing an increase that would have seen some Florida homeowners facing premium increases that topped $5,500.
Citizens Property Insurance rates are headed up, regulators decide
Homeowners insurance rates for Citizens Property Insurance policyholders will rise by a 6 percent statewide average next year, regulators said Monday night.
Senator Fasano Responds to Decision Regarding Citizens Sinkhole Rate Request
The Office of Insurance Regulation took Citizens to task for not fully taking into account certain provisions of recently enacted legislation when it filed a request for sinkhole premiums that, statewide, averaged 447%.
Blog: Hurricane Andrew would cost state-run Citizens insurance $14 billion today
If another Hurricane Andrew or the eight hurricanes of 2004 and 2005 hit Florida again, state-run Citizens Property Insurance would face paying $14.7 billion or $7.6 billion, respectively, in claims.
Collier, Lee officials want 2010 septic tank inspection law repealed
They understand there’s a need for statewide regulations, but Southwest Florida legislators said a year-old law requiring homeowners to have their septic systems inspected stinks.
Feds ask for changes to Florida Medicaid Reform Pilot
Last week, a federal agency sent a document to Florida’s Low Income Pool Council requesting changes to the state’s Medicaid Reform Pilot – changes that would increase primary care and impose requirements on HMOs.
Florida’s pill mill crackdown resulting in increased crime elsewhere
The recent implementation of a statewide prescription drug monitoring database created to curb the abuse of prescription drugs in Florida, a state where an average of seven people a day die of prescription drug overdoses, seems to be having some unintended consequences.
Sarasota Memorial, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida expand contract
Sarasota Memorial Health Care System’s three urgent care centers are now part of an in-network option for members of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida.
Lawmakers: Regulators need to crack down on Assisted Living Facilities
With Florida’s elderly population expected to boom in the next two decades, state regulators must crack down on rogue assisted living facilities by shutting down homes where residents die from abuse, slapping harsher fines on places that repeatedly break the law, and boosting the qualifications of people who run assisted living facilities, a legislative study says.
Filing deadline set for House redistricting committee
Panel Chairman Will Weatherford says he wants proposed redistricting maps filed by November 14.
Drilling off Keys to begin by December
A giant, semi-submersible oil rig en route from Singapore will probably be drilling in the Florida Straits between Key West and Cuba in mid-December.
PolitiJax: It’s Election Day for Senate District 1
Democratic voters in the state Senate District 1 go to the polls today to elect a replacement for Tony Hill.
Blog: Special districts emerge as Governor Scott’s new target
Fresh from cutting $210 million in taxes and scores of jobs at Florida’s water management districts, Governor Rick Scott is sizing up a new target in his drive to shrink government.
Senator Don Gaetz named Senate President-Designate as GOP elite look on
As national Republicans geared up for a presidential debate and straw poll in Orlando, Florida’s GOP elite gathered in the Capitol on Monday Senator Don Gaetz of Niceville assumed the mantle as the next state Senate President for a term from 2012 to 2014.
Blog: State Representative Mia Jones named to another leadership post
State Representative Mia Jones, D – Jacksonville, was selected by the National Order of Women Legislators to serve as regional director for the National Order of Women Legislators at a national conference next year.
Anti-casino group to form again as gambling is pushed in South Florida
The full-throttle push to bring casino gambling to South Florida has prompted the head of the No Casinos political committee to resurrect his organization to oppose expanded gambling in Florida.
Lawmakers are back in Tallahassee, so it’s fundraising time
Willie Sutton robbed banks because “that’s where the money is.”
OSHA questions safety of Shamu shows at SeaWorld
In hearings that could ultimately determine the future of SeaWorld’s famous Shamu shows, federal lawyers said Monday that the theme park’s animal trainers cannot safely work in close contact with killer whales.
Another Short-Term Extension Planned for National Flood Insurance Program
The current National Flood Insurance Program will be extended through November 18 by a congressional vote next week, according to industry officials.
Alabama Special Session on Home Insurance Possible in January
The special legislative session that Governor Robert Bentley has promised on the affordability and availability of homeowners insurance could come in early 2012.
State Farm, Connecticut Continue Talks About Hurricane Deductibles
Though nearly two-dozen insurers in Connecticut have agreed to waive hurricane deductibles following Hurricane Irene, State Farm is not among them.
Montana Asbestos Victims Win $43 Million Settlement
A Montana judge has approved a $43 million settlement for more than a thousand asbestos victims who said state officials knew that dust from a mine was killing people but failed to intervene.
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