Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Monday, March 9
Mar 9, 2009
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State Farm appeals conditions placed on Florida withdrawal
State Farm Florida on Friday appealed stipulations that Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty has put on its plan to withdraw from the state’s property insurance market.
State Farm calls Florida withdrawal conditions prohibitive
It says the state is effectively trying to keep the company from leaving the homeowners insurance market
Conditions set by regulators for State Farm Florida’s withdrawal from the state’s property insurance market are illegal and amount to a rejection of the request, the company said in a filing with the state late Friday.
Florida State Farm agents ask homeowners not to leave them
For State Farm agent Debra Braddock, the business she’s built for 25 years with the same company will be the only insurance business she plans to do in her lifetime.
Florida startup insurer in brawl with CFO Sink
Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink announced she would suspend the license of new startup home insurer Peoples Trust for using call center personnel who were not licensed to sell insurance, a move drawing an angry response from the company.
Counties and cities would be prohibited from imposing fees for emergency agencies to respond to accidents under legislation filed in response to the growing practice.
‘Big one’ could pose bigger problems
Already mired in severe budget problems, Florida could face a bigger financial crisis if a major hurricane slams the state this year.
City flood maps mark risks, may alter rates
The redrawing could force some property owners to buy insurance to protect them against clearer dangers.
Storm shutter company owner freed after paying $63,000 in restitution in St. Lucie
A 74-year-old businessman who stole from victims of the 2004 hurricanes in Martin and St. Lucie counties got out of jail Friday after turning over $63,000 for restitution.
Letter to the Editor: Insurance reform is a disaster
I am very upset with the state of Florida for the mishandling of the homeowners insurance industry. I have been a State Farm policyholder for 26 years, my rates are very reasonable, and now I will be forced to look elsewhere.
South Florida consumers curb medical treatment to save money
More heart attacks, fewer breast implants. More ER visits, fewer trips to the doctor’s office. More aspirin, fewer echocardiograms. And many people are afraid to miss work for healthcare because they fear it might cost them their jobs.
Florida emergency room costs increased 25 percent in the last year
ER usage trends and growing uninsured raise concerns for area providers and insurers
HealthLeaders-InterStudy, a leading provider of managed care market intelligence, reports that through the first three quarters of 2008, a majority of Florida’s largest health insurers saw on average a 25 percent increase in per-member, per-month costs for emergency room and out-of-area services.
Florida legislators cautious about taking stimulus money for jobless
A push to change the way the state figures out who is eligible for unemployment benefits — and how much those beneficiaries get — could bring the state hundreds of millions of additional dollars in federal stimulus money.
THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA: Oil companies seek tax break to restart old fields
The state’s only producing oil company wants a tax break from state lawmakers to resume extracting oil from its northwest Florida field. On Friday the House Energy & Utility Policy Committee unanimously approved a measure (HB 515) that would provide severance tax breaks for Quantum Resource Management, a private company headquartered in the town of Jay, near Pensacola.
Florida lawmakers discuss U.S. Sugar deal
Lawmakers returned Monday for the second week of the 60-day session and took on the increasingly contentious plan to buy U.S. Sugar land near the Everglades.
Bill would eliminate many clerk functions
County court clerks have a slew of duties, including receiving and disbursing court fines and fees from Floridians — but that could soon change.
New rules for the old ‘telephone company’
If you still get your telephone service from a wire in the wall from a traditional phone company such as Verizon, listen up: There’s a bill in the Legislature that’s going to take another step toward deregulation of the old phone companies.
State Senator Frederica Wilson to seek Congressional District 17 seat
Frederica Wilson and her extensive hat collection have pretty much done everything they can in Tallahassee. The Miami democrat has served in both houses of the State legislature, and now she’s made it official that she’ll be seeking the congressional seat Rep. Kendrick Meek is leaving behind in his quest for the Senate.
CFO Sink Unveils “Get Lean” Web Site, Seeks Citizen Help To Cut Government Waste
Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink is expanding the state’s “Get Lean Florida” program to include a new Web site that will provide Floridians an easy place to suggest ways to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of state government.
Tight budget puts Crist’s agenda on life support
Even for the normally effervescent Charlie Crist, hope seems to be in short supply.
Which warning gets Florida tax panel’s attention?
Florida legislators spent two days this week doing something they have never done before: They reviewed sales tax exemptions for charter fishing trips, fish breeding, eyeglasses, and high school and college stadium skyboxes.
Miami Democrat Kendrick Meek builds support, war chest for Senate run
It seems an insane question to raise 604 days before Florida elects its next U.S. senator: Is Kendrick Meek already on the verge of walking away with the Democratic nomination?
Bringing in more revenue than expected, Powerball brightens bleak budget year
No Floridian has won the top prize in the new Powerball Lottery game that can turn a $1 ticket into a multimillion-dollar fortune.
National Flood Insurance Program gets five-day extension
The U.S. Senate passed a five-day extension to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) by voice vote Friday after lawmakers delayed action Thursday night on the federal omnibus bill which would have extended the NFIP through the fiscal year.
Blue Cross ordered to defend stance on autism therapy coverage
A U.S. District Court magistrate has ordered Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan to produce documents to support its claim that a certain type of behavioral therapy for children with autism is experimental, and therefore ineligible for coverage.
Violence between repo men and car owners on the rise
Alone in his mobile home off a winding dirt road near Halsell, Ala., Jimmy Tanks heard a commotion at 2:30 a.m. just outside his bedroom window: Somebody was messing with his car.
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