Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Tuesday, Aug. 21

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Florida’s CFO, Alex Sink:  Crucial to act before PIP law sunsets

For 36 years, Floridians have taken for granted that if they suffer from injuries in a car accident, the first $10,000 in medical and related benefits are automatically covered by the No-Fault law, commonly referred to by the medical benefits portion called PIP, Personal Injury Protection.

 

State: Property damage requirement stays when auto no-fault goes

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida drivers will still need to purchase property damage liability insurance even if the state’s no-fault insurance system disappears Oct. 1, a lawyer for the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles said Tuesday.

 

Dems call for open PIP discussion

TALLAHASSEE — Wary of a secret deal to force a new mandatory auto insurance, House Democrats are urging state leaders to bring the talks out into the open.

 

Dean Insured Loss At $1.5B, Say Modelers

Insured losses from Hurricane Dean damage to Jamaica and the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico will not exceed $1.5 billion, according to modeling firm estimates.

 

Roofing retrofits for storm to be law

A new state law designed to protect houses against roof-ripping hurricanes could have some Florida homeowners hitting the ceiling over the thousands of dollars it will add to their costs.

 

Allstate Can’t Keep Claim Manuals Secret

Documents revealing Allstate claims handling procedures that were evidence in a trial over Hurricane Katrina-related flood damage cannot be kept from the public, according to a federal judge.

 

State, insurer wrangle over changes in vision-care contracts

Warning that ”time is of the essence” for state employees to make insurance choices, attorneys for the Department of Management Services asked an appeals court Monday to let the state change companies for vision coverage.

 

Slap on wrist for McCarty

Investigator General satisfied with public apology

Investigators say Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty used state resources for the political campaign of a friend, but they do not seek sanctions against him.

 

Rubio’s Rules of Order

Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio, R-West Miami, put the public over party last week when he stripped Rep. Bob Allen, R-Merritt Island, of his committee positions after police arrested Rep. Allen for allegedly soliciting sex from an undercover officer.

 

New storm system is on radar for Florida

Someone turn off the switch.

Forecasters began watching another tropical system Monday that seemed to be developing in the Atlantic Ocean and could reach the East Coast — and possibly South Florida — late this week.

 

Condo, insurer duel over storm costs

WEST PALM BEACH — Nearly two years after Hurricane Wilma blew out windows and buckled walls at the Chalfonte Condominium in Boca Raton, residents of the 21-story twin towers are still waiting for their insurance company to pay them for the roughly $13 million they spent on repairs.

 

Lake Mary lawmaker will resign to seek community-colleges post

Lake Mary state Rep. David Mealor said Monday that he is resigning his seat in October to pursue the vacant post of chancellor of the state’s community-college system.

 

Allen speaks to NAACP branch in Titusville

TITUSVILLE — State Rep. Bob Allen, R-Merritt Island, said that since his arrest last month on a charge of solicitation for prostitution, he’s come to understand that the civil rights movement was about more than the fight for racial equality.

 

Still no deal on Seminole gambling

The federal deadline for Florida to reach a gambling compact with the Seminole Tribe will come and go today without a deal.

 

New Bush Policies Limit Reach of Child Insurance Plan

The Bush administration, engaged in a battle with Congress over whether a popular children’s health insurance program should be expanded, has announced new policies that will make it harder for states to insure all but the lowest-income children.

 

Firm Charged With Medicare Fraud

The federal government charged a South Florida company with fraudulently billing Medicare $170 million for infusions of HIV drugs.