Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Tuesday, Aug. 7

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The Sun-Sentinel Interviews State Senator Nan Rich on Florida’s Insurance Crisis

 

Sinkhole Deal Could Put Pasco, Hernando Residents In Bigger Hole

Gov. Charlie Crist and the Legislature failed to deliver on promises to lower property insurance rates throughout Florida, but they succeeded in making things worse for residents of Hernando and Pasco counties who depend upon the state for coverage.

 

Some Children Shut Out From Vaccines

CHICAGO — For children whose health insurance doesn’t cover newly recommended shots, it’s better to have no insurance at all, a new study suggests.

 

Stocks Dive, Then Soar on Fed Decision

Wall Street overcame disappointment in the Federal Reserve’s failure to move toward an easing of interest rates Tuesday, and stocks made a late-day surge as the decision was seen as a sign the economy wasn’t threatened by turmoil in the credit markets.

 

Democrat Bill Nelson tells town hall meeting the Bush administration is fighting the proposal

NEW PORT RICHEY – Bill Nelson came prepared to talk about protecting the Everglades, about the Medicaid prescription drug program and bringing troops home from the war in Iraq.

 

Marsh & McLennan 2Q profit rises

Marsh & McLennan Cos., the largest U.S. insurance brokerage, on Tuesday said second-quarter profit rose 3 percent, driven by revenue growth in its risk and insurance business and consulting operations.

 

Introducing Insurance:  New Low-Cost Policies Target Immigrants as Large Untapped Market

Low-skilled immigrants rarely have insurance, whether life, accident or unemployment, and sometimes when they have an emergency, friends and family members pass donation buckets in small churches or call Spanish-language radio stations conducting phone-a-thons to raise money to pay the bills.

 

Hurricane center’s Proenza could be heading to Texas

Two members of Congress urged the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Monday to allow Bill Proenza, ousted as director of the National Hurricane Center, to return to his previous job.

 

Your credit score can affect car insurance bill

John Rogers will be the first to admit that he’s had some money problems.  Someone digging through the 43-year-old salesman’s credit history would see some unpaid bills on his account, a bankruptcy from 15 years ago when his son needed life-saving surgery, and even an Internal Revenue Service lien that still lingers.

 

Health Administrators to Reimburse State $7 Million in Duplicate Billing

Two companies that administered health care for New York State Medicaid recipients have agreed to return $7 million that they received through duplicate billings, the state attorney general’s office said yesterday.

 

Editorial:   Innovation May Aid Insurance

In January, the Legislature met in special session to address Florida homeowners insurance crisis, with questionable results. As reported Monday in The Ledger, state officials had said legislative-mandated changes would reduce property-insurance rates by 25 percent.

 

An off-the-wall idea: homes made of foam

A drive for energy-efficient building supplies reveals an unlikely option.

How’s this for a tough sell in hurricane-prone Florida: Build your homes and offices out of a material a few degrees removed from packaging peanuts.

 

Get presidential hopefuls on board with national disaster insurance bill

Now comes the really hard part — getting nationwide disaster insurance legislation approved by both houses on Capitol Hill.

 

Gray changes hurricane tune again

There are several sure signs we are getting closer to the peak of hurricane season.  There’s more water and batteries in shopping carts. Television weathermen are starting to give more breathless updates whenever there is a big wind forming in the Caribbean. And, of course, William Gray is changing his storm forecast.

 

Swiss Re Eyes Asia After GE Purchase Boosts Profit

ZURICH (Reuters) – Reinsurer Swiss Re said it had escaped the subprime crisis and that second-quarter net profit jumped by 45 percent, meeting expectations, with the help of a large acquisition and low claims.

 

Bill threatens Medicare quality contractors 

The private firms that contract with Medicare to handle beneficiary complaints and recommend quality improvements to hospitals and other providers could see their industry fundamentally shaken up by new Senate legislation.

 

Daniels’ e-mail may be trouble

Lad Daniels, a candidate for the Florida House of Representatives, may have put The Players Championship golf tournament in violation of the federal tax code by sending an e-mail to tournament volunteers asking for help with his campaign.

 

State Republicans to challenge punishment over early primary

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. (AP) — The state Republican Party chairman plans to ask his executive board this weekend to ignore the punishment the national party is doling out because Florida moved up its presidential primary.

 

Get ready for budget pain

If Gov. Charlie Crist honestly views the state’s $1.5-billion shortfall as merely “an opportunity to continue to tighten our belt,” he is living in a budgetary bubble. The new financial forecast reflects an ominous trend for at least the next four years and is directly at odds with his promises to schoolteachers and university presidents.

 

Controversial FTC Report Reignites Fight Over Insurance Credit Scoring

The battle over the use of credit scores when underwriting insurance risks is reheating to a fever pitch following the release of a controversial Federal Trade Commission report hailed by the industry but hammered by consumer groups and a dissenter within the agency.

 

Premiums Up To $1.4 Trillion In 2006, NAIC Report Says

Premiums written in the United States increased to $1.4 trillion in 2006, with five states accounting for 37 percent of all insurance premiums, according to a survey by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

 

Katrina at Two Years: $40.6 Billion Paid on 1.7 Million Insurance Claims

 Two years later, the “overwhelming majority of claims” in Gulf Coast states from Hurricane Katrina have been settled in what has been the single largest loss — $40.6 billion — in the history of the insurance industry.

 

Attack Ads You’ll Be Seeing

Here’s an emerging line of attack you can expect to hear more of in the 2008 congressional campaigns — especially if you live near a vulnerable Democratic incumbent: Democrats vote to give welfare benefits to illegal aliens.