Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Monday, June 18

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Crist may hedge state’s storm risk

Florida considers backers for part of $31 billion catastrophe fund

Gov. Charlie Crist is quietly considering hedging Florida’s gigantic hurricane bet, and with it raising the odds homeowners will get socked with a bailout bill. 

 

OP-ED:  Like seat-belt use, PIP should be mandatory

The sunset of the Florida No Fault Insurance Law will occur on Sept. 30. After that, for all intents and purposes, there will be no mandate for automobile insurance at all. Floridians will join only three other states that have no statutory requirement for vehicle owners to carry any automobile insurance at all.

 

Big Fla. Storm Assessments Could Exceed $50 Billion: Report

If a 1-in-250-year storm were to hit Florida, policyholder assessments to support the state’s hurricane catastrophe fund and its insurer of last resort could total $53 billion, a reinsurance broker reported this week.

 

Cash-strapped homeowners without mortgages get right to drop windstorm coverage

 Louis Miller’s homeowner insurance is so pricey that he’s considering dropping the most expensive portion — the part that would pay to rebuild his home if it were destroyed in a hurricane.

 

Ron Shelp Discusses AIG

“Fallen Giant,” 1 p.m., Broward County Main Library, 100 S. Andrews Ave., Fort Lauderdale. Broward County Commission Libraries Division Presents Ron Shelp, author of the Fallen Giant: The Amazing Story of Hank Greenberg and the History of AIG. Shelp talks about his years as an executive at AIG and interviews with current and former AIG employees and discusses Hank Greenberg and the world’s largest insurance company. 954-357-7443.

 

Gov. Charlie Crist gets off to fast start with 70 percent approval rating

Fort Lauderdale — On a steamy Sunday afternoon in September, Charlie Crist stopped at the Greek Islands Taverna for a few bites of food and stumped for votes. Two days before his overwhelming victory in the Republican primary, Crist wowed potential voters.

 

Nelson: Fla. Guard replacement equipment ‘a drop in the bucket’

CAMP BLANDING, Fla. — The Florida National Guard is beginning to get $86 million in replacement equipment for vehicles and supplies left in Iraq and Afghanistan, but a Florida senator said the resupply effort is “a drop in the bucket.”

 

Credit rating vs. insurance rate
 
Some legislators worry link is unfair penalty for consumers

Insurance companies would be prohibited from considering a consumer’s credit report when deciding whether to issue auto and homeowner policies or set premiums, under legislation proposed in the state Assembly.

 

Pinellas To Dip Into Rainy Day Fund

CLEARWATER – Pinellas County’s $146 million “rainy day” fund for emergencies such as a severe hurricane will be used to help the county weather a different kind of storm: one over escalating property taxes.

 

Insurers Suspend the Marketing of Some Medicare Plans

The UnitedHealth Group, Humana and five other insurers are suspending the marketing of some federal government health plans after complaints that unscrupulous agents were duping elderly Americans into buying the coverage.

 

In-state natural-gas storage would help keep lights on after storms

This year, we began hurricane season with a subtropical storm. Then Tropical Storm Barry brought wind and heavy rains to the state on June 1. We don’t know what to expect from here, though predictions are for an active storm season.

 

Not if, but when

Our opinion: start preparing now for the inevitable — a category 5 hurricane

Think Hurricane Katrina was bad? Consider Hurricane Ono’s numbers: Its September winds are at Category 5 strength — 155 miles per hour — and it is big, cutting a wide swath across the Atlantic coast. The eye makes landfall between Broward and Palm Beach counties, some 35 miles north of Miami. It produces 22 inches of rain in the region. Once inland, Ono, now a Category 4, takes a northwestern path and swipes at Lake Okeechobee, which is at 18 feet after a rainy summer. Ono’s overall impact causes several breaches in the dike, and the water comes tumbling out.

 

High Court Shouldn’t Doctor Patients’ Right-To-Know Act

When Florida voters went to the polls three years ago and passed Amendment 7 – the Patient’s Right-to-Know initiative – they chose patients’ rights over physicians’ confidentiality.

 

Port Panama City to receive radiation detector

PANAMA CITY, Fla — The growing port of Panama City is adding radiation detection equipment to screen for nuclear devices, dirty bombs and other sources of radiation.

 

Family Overwhelmed By Medicare Paperwork

TARPON SPRINGS – Stacks of bills, claim forms and collection warnings cover the dining table at the home of Connie and William DiPietrantonio.

 

‘Pill Splitting’ Cuts Drug Costs for Patients, Health Plans

MONDAY, June 18 (HealthDay News) — A practice patients often use to cut down on drug costs, called “pill splitting,” can also save money for insurance companies and employers, a study of the University of Michigan’s own health benefit plan shows.

 

Habitat for Humanity’s Homes Faulted in Florida

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — When Habitat for Humanity built the Fairway Oaks development here seven years ago, Mary Zeigler thought, “This is a blessing.” In just 17 days, an army of 10,000 volunteers, including former President Jimmy Carter and first lady Rosalynn Carter, built 85 low-cost houses, one of the nonprofit group’s biggest “blitz build” projects.

 

Officials Split on Kids’ Health Insurance

WASHINGTON — As Congress edges closer to renewing a health insurance program for children, state officials have made it clear that they have a much different vision for the program’s future than the Bush administration.

 

Your Home
What’s Insured and What Isn’t

A SURVEY by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners has found that many people believe their homeowners’ insurance covers losses that are not, in fact, covered.

 

Report: Protestant Church Insurers Handle 260 Sex Abuse Cases a Year

The three companies that insure the majority of Protestant churches in America say they typically receive upward of 260 reports each year of young people under 18 being sexually abused by clergy, church staff, volunteers or congregation members.