Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Monday, October 6

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Hurricane fund crisis could put homeowners at risk

When Florida lawmakers expanded the state’s hurricane fund in 2007 to force lower premiums, they tied the ability to deliver billions in insurance coverage to something as volatile as tropical storms: Wall Street.

Taxpayers on the hook for $400M in liability if the big one hits

A fourth consecutive Florida hurricane season without a cataclysm like Hurricane Charley continues to place homeowners on more even footing with their property insurance providers. Premiums are coming down and more competition is coming, insurers say.

State Farm to trim auto insurance rates in Florida

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., the largest automobile insurer in Florida, will slightly lower its statewide average annual premium this month, the insurer said Friday.

Creator of catastrophe risk model broadens focus

Karen Clark created the first computer model to help insurers better gauge the losses they might face after a major catastrophe. Now she is working with insurers to use the models more wisely.

The woman who created the first catastrophe risk model in the mid-1980s is now in the business of evaluating them.

Rampant Medicare fraud suspected in Miami

Home health care costs charged to Medicare in the Miami area have risen 20 times the national average in the past five years, prompting a federal investigation of suspected fraudulent billing.

Same-sex marriage ban could affect benefits

The fate of the most emotionally charged issue on Florida’s November ballot could hinge on a question of economics.

Decision Complicates Seminole Gaming Pact

Last year, Gov. Charlie Crist signed off on a gaming compact between Florida and the Seminole Tribe. Now Florida’s Supreme Court has ruled that Crist lacked authority to do that.

Sink Works To Keep Seniors Safe

When Alice Bouchard became a widow in 1998, she also became a target.

Not so fast: Florida institutes $1,000 fine for going 50 mph over limit

Brazen motorcyclists and drivers now will be clobbered with a fine in the four figures — $1,000 and up — if they get busted for excessive speeding on Florida roads.

McCollum: Florida, States Settle Countrywide Lawsuits with Bank of America

Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that Florida and several other states have reached a multimillion dollar agreement in principle with Countrywide, a newly-acquired subsidiary of Bank of America. The agreement includes a $150 million foreclosure relief payment program and loan modifications for thousands of homeowners, including more than 57,000 Florida homeowners with qualifying Countrywide mortgages.

OP-ED: How to take Florida by storm

Given all that happened in Texas with Hurricane Ike, some Americans might not have noticed that the storm caused hurricane-force winds in southern Ohio and northern Kentucky. Roughly 1 million people were without power for days.

TV ads turn nasty in Florida Senate race

The election is still a month away, but in state Sen. Jeff Atwater’s coastal district, the TV airwaves have become a political war zone.

Incumbent Hasner faces newcomer Ostrov

By conventional measures, Republican Adam Hasner holds the advantage in his run for a fourth term in District 87 of the Florida House. He is the incumbent campaigning against a newcomer. He has a hefty war chest at his disposal, nearly $700,000 to Democratic opponent Rob Ostrov’s $25,000.

District 18 Hopefuls voice their priorities for Florida

The economy, oil and education are just a few of their concerns

None of the three candidates for the District 18 state House of Representatives seat has held elected office in the past.

430,000 new voters register in Florida

Registration deadline Monday

Monday is the deadline to register to vote in the Nov. 4 presidential election. Applications must be postmarked by Monday or may be dropped off at any supervisor of elections office. Applications are available at county elections offices and their Web sites, and at libraries and Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles offices.

Florida’s I-4 corridor is key election battleground

Margel Zukunft, 81 years old, pulled weeds from around a for-sale sign on a recent evening outside her three-bedroom home in the Sun City retirement community near Tampa.

Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart’s earmarks raise eyebrows

Medley defense contractors who’ve gotten millions of dollars in earmarks from Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart have contributed heavily to his and brother Mario’s political campaigns and causes.

Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart has procured millions in federal funding to benefit a small Miami-Dade defense-contracting group that has donated tens of thousands of dollars to his political campaign and that of his brother, fellow U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart.

Energy company funds fuel state political system

For Florida Power & Light, Progress Energy Florida and other electric utilities, these are high-stakes times in Tallahassee.

Symbolic amendment eradicating discriminatory law likely to fail

Florida is the only state in the nation with an archaic law designed to give the legislature the ability to discriminate against Asian immigrants.

Bailout Provides More Mental Health Coverage

More than one-third of all Americans will soon receive better insurance coverage for mental health treatments because of a new law that, for the first time, requires equal coverage of mental and physical illnesses.

AIG in Talks to Sell Personal Lines; Transatlantic, Hartford Steam on the Block

American International Group Inc. is in advanced talks with one potential buyer for part of its U.S. personal lines business as the insurer looks to sell assets to pay off a massive government loan, Chief Executive Edward Liddy said in an interview Friday.

State Regulators See No Trickle-Down from AIG Parent to Insurance Units

State regulators from across the country say that the problems at parent company

American International Group are unlikely to trickle down to affect its insurance operations that come under their regulatory supervision.

Risk Managers ‘Confident’ About AIG’s Security, But Plan To Shop, Just In Case

While 68 percent of risk managers are “very confident” or “somewhat confident” in American International Group’s financial security following the $85 billion federal bailout of its corporate parent, 71 percent will consider alternatives to AIG at renewal, an Advisen survey revealed.

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