Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Friday, February 6
Feb 6, 2009
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House strife gives Rep. Reagan clout
The shake-up in the Legislature has elevated Rep. Ron Reagan, R-Bradenton, to the second-highest position in the 120-member Florida House.
CHARLIE CRIST: Florida’s Property Insurance Reforms Are Working
Regarding your editorial, “Florida’s Unnatural Disaster” (Feb. 4): Prior to the reforms in 2007, insurers were fleeing our state and premiums were soaring by as much as 500%. Property owners were left with only one option — Citizens Property Insurance Corp., which was created by the Florida Legislature in 2002 for Floridians without private insurance options.
State Farm is planning to appeal the state’s rejection of its rate filing in court – but don’t mistake that for a sign that the company might stick around, company officials said Thursday.
Last Week’s Announcement by State Farm Florida to Discontinue Selling Property Insurance in Florida Sent Thousands of Customers Into a High Stakes Search for a New Florida Home Insurance Company and Provided Shocking Insights That Suggest the Florida Home Insurance Crisis Is Far From Over
Home Insurance Buyers Guide, LLC (www.homeinsurancebuyers.org) today released the first look at the profile of State Farm Florida Insurance customers affected by last week’s announcement.
Buyers’ Guide Finds State Farm Fla. Homes Not Storm-Proofed
Most of the 1.2 million home and condominium policies State Farm Florida wants to drop from its rolls in Florida are older and more vulnerable to hurricanes, according an online insurance buyers guide.
Florida Home-Grown Insurer Says It’s Ready for 300,000 State Farm Policies
After State Farm announced it would be leaving behind 1.2 million property policyholders within the next two years, state officials expressed confidence that the private insurance market, including a number of relatively new Florida-only insurers, would rescue the business.
Florida: Reforms have kept state’s workers’ comp market competitive, report finds
Comprehensive reforms enacted to Florida’s workers’ compensation system in 2003 have helped keep the state’s market healthy and competitive, according to a report.
The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation recently issued its 2008 Workers’ Compensation Annual Report, which analyzes the availability and affordability of coverage for workers’ comp insurance in the state for the 2007 calendar year.
Lawmakers OK cameras to catch red light runners
Gainesville city commissioners approved an ordinance Thursday that would allow cameras to be installed to catch and ticket cars that fail to stop for red lights.
Fire services fee is necessary. Is it or isn’t it?
When the city voted on Jan. 28 to approve Ordinance No. 09-0-05, which allows the Tallahassee Fire Department to collect a fee for intervening at the scene of a car accident, several residents and at least one representative of the insurance industry cried that the fee would be act of double taxation.
Florida Medicaid Computer Glitch Continues
Medicaid officials don’t expect their $250 million computer system to run trouble-free until summer.
COLUMN: Medicare crooks like Cuba — why?
What would make Darvis Lázaro Leal think he could get back to Miami after skipping out to Cuba while under investigation for healthcare fraud?
One in five Bernard Madoff investors from Florida
Thousands of people saw their investments wiped out in Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme — including 562 from Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
The list of customers of swindling suspect Bernard Madoff includes prominent car dealer Norman Braman, Pasadena Homes builder Leonard Miller and hotelier Stephen Muss.
U.S. Sugar deal too costly for state role
Gov. Charlie Crist’s administration decided to put the full burden of his billion-dollar-plus Everglades initiative on taxpayers in southern Florida so as not to worsen the state’s already strained budget, newly released court records show.
Madoff Prober Says Insurance Needs Federal Regulation
Insurance should be federally regulated and Congress should create a common database of all financially related fraud enforcement actions, a private fraud investigator who attempted to reveal the Madoff pyramid scheme told a House committee.
Insurers Urge Their Version For International Accounting
The insurance industry is urging international insurance supervisors to take a number of steps as they develop global insurance standards including looking at what it would take to fulfill a contract rather than assign a fair value to securities.
Insurers’ Finances Clouded by Bookkeeping Changes
Allstate, the big insurer, last week declared that despite unprecedented trouble in the markets, it remains financially strong.
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