Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Friday, Sept. 7

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Crist rejects appeals for PIP session

The postponement of a special legislative session scheduled for later this month to address the state’s budget crisis would seem to spell the end of no-fault auto insurance in Florida, a law that has been on the books for 37 years.

 

Opposition grows in Congress to national disaster insurance fund

A bill designed to ease homeowner insurance premiums ran into a storm of objections in Congress on Thursday, putting its chances of passage in serious jeopardy.

 

Treasury Knocks Catastrophe Funding Bill

WASHINGTON—A Treasury Department official testified today that legislation creating a joint federal-state program supporting programs providing homeowner catastrophe insurance would have a negative impact on business and taxpayers.

 

Court Throws Out All Federal Antitrust Charges Against Insurers, Brokers

Finding the charges lack any factual support, a federal judge has dismissed a big antitrust conspiracy case that was lodged against large commercial insurance brokers and insurers back in 2004 when bid rigging and account steering probes were in full sway.

 

CFO Sink announces probe of Coastal Title Services

VERO BEACH — Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink announced Thursday that she has started an investigation into Ira C. Hatch Jr.’s title company, Coastal Title Services.

 

UnitedHealthcare Reaches Deal Over Claims Disputes

TAMPA – A three-year multistate investigation of UnitedHealthcare’s claims-paying system has ended with the insurer agreeing to pay between $12 million and $20 million to settle claims from 36 states and the District of Columbia. The amount of the payment depends on how many states join in the settlement.

 

Editorial: Paralysis in Tallahassee

Six weeks after announcing that the Legislature would meet in special session to cut the budget, Republican legislative leaders announced Wednesday that there would be no session – at least, not on the scheduled date of Sept. 18.

 

Walter Dartland: Extend coverage another year

From air-conditioned seats to GPS navigation, cars turn up with more and more features each year. Soon, however, one feature that may be suspiciously absent from many Florida vehicles will be insurance.

 

Senator Dave Aronberg: Another alternative to no-fault

As the Oct. 1 expiration date approaches for Florida’s no-fault insurance law — known as personal injury protection, or “PIP” — it has been widely reported that the only three options are to extend it, mend it or end it.

 

Canceled session dooms no-fault insurance

TALLAHASSEE — The future of Florida’s no-fault auto insurance system has dangled for months. But when state leaders called off plans Wednesday for a special legislative session, they likely guaranteed the elimination of no-fault on Oct. 1.

 

John LoMeo: Don’t Forget What Florida Was Like Without ‘No-Fault’

To truly appreciate the impact of allowing Florida’s Personal Injury Protection (PIP) law – also known as mandatory “no-fault” automobile insurance – to expire, one must understand what it was like before the law was enacted in 1971.

 

End Of No-Fault Auto Insurance Nears

TAMPA – In less than a month, Florida’s 36-year-old no-fault auto insurance law will die. Legislators tangled for months over whether to preserve Florida’s no-fault system, but they were unable to break their deadlock over proposed reforms.

 

State ag chief seeks advice on local level

Bradenton mayor on panel to offer fixes for consumer problems

Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles Bronson on Wednesday asked for input from the local level to help the state deal with consumer problems such as insurance, credit card debt and rising fuel costs.

 

Editorial: It’s foolish to allow the no-fault insurance law to expire in the absence of a viable alternative

First it was homeowners insurance, which reached the crisis stage before Florida lawmakers took any substantive action to fix the problem. Sadly, the reforms they implemented have done little to make property insurance more affordable.

 

Editorial: PIP side effects

It turns out that the imminent expiration of Florida’s “no fault” insurance law won’t just result in a lot more uninsured motorists on the public highways. It will also adversely impact the state’s ability to issue drivers licenses and keep Highway Patrol troopers on the job.

 

Business Groups Fight Private Equity Tax

WASHINGTON — To help quash legislation that would raise taxes on private equity and hedge funds, representatives for big business are warning lawmakers that the effort could instead end up hurting the little guy.

 

Federal Judge Allows Class Action Against Disability Insurer Unum

A federal judge in Chattanooga, Tenn. has granted class-action status to a lawsuit that contends Unum Group, the nation’s largest disability insurer, schemed to deny or terminate claims of thousands of disabled Americans.

 

Crist: Help home buyers and speed up construction to fix economy

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Gov. Charlie Crist on Thursday recommended lawmakers try to spend the state out of its economic doldrums, proposing to expedite highway and school building and use state money to help first-time home buyers in an effort to spur construction.

 

McCollum gives opinion on Seminole games

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum weighed in on the gambling debate Thursday with an opinion saying Gov. Charlie Crist doesn’t have to allow the Seminole Indians to offer blackjack and other illegal games in order to seal a deal.

 

Supreme Court strikes law limiting horse race simulcasting

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A state law that severely limited the ability of South Florida horse racing tracks to simulcast events from other pari-mutuel facilities is unconstitutional because of the way it was adopted, the Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

• Click here to link to Florida Supreme Court Opinion

Court: Let voters OK big projects

Community redevelopment agencies across the state must now get voter approval before issuing bonds for big-ticket spending projects.

 

N.J. Supreme Court Rejects Class-Action Suit Against Merck

TRENTON, N.J. – New Jersey’s Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a class-action lawsuit against Merck & Co. over its withdrawn painkiller Vioxx.