Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Tuesday, July 17

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Florida finance chief urges Legislature to renew no-fault law

Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink on Tuesday told legislative leaders in a report there are bad consequences for consumers and the state should Florida’s no-fault auto insurance law expire Oct. 1.

 

State CFO: Action needed on no-fault insurance law

TALLAHASSEE — Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink warned lawmakers today that allowing the state’s no-fault auto insurance to sunset this fall could mean more red tape and higher health costs for consumers, hospitals and the state.

 

Citizens’ Rapid Growth Alarming

TAMPA – It wasn’t supposed to be like this.  Citizens Property Insurance Corp., established by the state for homeowners who could not get insurance in the private market, has evolved into an industry titan. With more than 1.3 million policyholders, it is now the state’s largest property insurer, eclipsing State Farm.

 

White House Nixes Windstorm Cover For NFIP

WASHINGTON —The Bush administration flatly opposes expanding the National Flood Insurance Program to include windstorm coverage, a Treasury official told a House subcommittee today, placing a major roadblock in the path of legislation to expand the program.

 

Congressional subcommittee hearing scheduled for hurricane center

MIAMI — A joint congressional subcommittee hearing has been scheduled on storm tracking at the National Hurricane Center.

 

Offshore Reinsurance Premiums Drop

The total of offshore reinsurance premiums declined almost 12 percent in 2006, according to a new report from the Reinsurance Association of America.

 

Sick 9-11 Workers Sue $1B Insurance Fund

NEW YORK — Ailing ground zero workers went to court Tuesday to demand that the company overseeing a $1 billion Sept. 11 insurance fund spend the money to pay for their health care.

 

Pasco May Add Sinkhole Report For Developers

DADE CITY – Builders in Pasco County soon may have to file an extra report showing their plans to avoid sinkholes.

 

Willis Pays $2.6M To Settle Fla. Fee Probe

Willis Group Holdings will pay 14 Florida public entities $2.6 million for collecting brokerage fees while failing to inform those customers that the firm was receiving commission payments from insurers, officials said.

 

Congressmen push for disaster insurance

WASHINGTON — In the 15 years since Hurricane Andrew, dozens of bills have been introduced in Congress calling for a national catastrophe insurance program. None has passed.

 

Fla. Bolstering Hurricane Fund Up to $7B

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida’s Hurricane Catastrophe Fund will seek to borrow several billion dollars so it can quickly pay claims if a large hurricane hits the state this year.

 

Fraud defendants plead guilty, agree to pay $826 million

MIAMI — Three people pleaded guilty Tuesday in a multimillion dollar scheme to defraud life insurance policy investors, authorities said.

 

Covering More Children

The administration balks at the expansion of a health-care program that works.

IN THE DECADE since its enactment, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program has helped provide insurance coverage for millions of children whose families have modest incomes but earn too much to qualify for Medicaid. Now the Bush administration is picking an unnecessary, and unnecessarily ideological, argument over the program’s reauthorization.

 

Mass. Lawmakers Urge Federal Inspections of Nation’s Tunnels
 
Massachusetts lawmakers say a federal safety board’s report on last year’s fatal Big Dig ceiling collapse gives a boost to their push for a national tunnel inspection program aimed at preventing future tragedies.

 

TVs let neurologists make long-distance diagnoses

WELLINGTON — When a patient shows up at Wellington Regional Medical Center’s emergency room with signs of a stroke or other brain illness, the hospital wheels a 30-inch, flat-panel TV in front of the patient’s bed and a nurse calls a company in Massachusetts.

 

Governor’s ratings don’t signify his work is done already

ISSUE: Six months and the governor’s rolling.  It’s only been six months, but Gov. Charlie Crist is still on a political roll. The self-styled “People’s Governor” has taken on some ambitious initiatives, all the while bumping his approval ratings up into the 70 percent range.

 

Gambling With Florida’s Future

It’s a sure bet.  Gambling is coming to Florida.  What am I saying? Gambling is here!

 

Hurricane Book’s Writer Says Tampa’s Luck Running Out

TAMPA – Chris Mooney comes to town today as part of an arduous nationwide book tour, and Tampa may be a more relevant stop than his visits to Washington, Raleigh or Denver.

 

Key to funding for eldercare technologies? Pilots

SAN FRANCISCO–Fighting the funding battle for eldercare technologies can come via large-scale pilots or highly successful small-scale ones, say health care companies.

 

Payout Is Bittersweet for Victims of Abuse

As abuse victims sobbed in the courtroom, a judge approved a $660 million settlement yesterday between the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles and 508 people who had filed suit over sexual abuse by clergy members.

 

Airline Lobbyist’s Job Is a Dogfight

At the end of another tough day of wrangling with government officials, James C. May sat, tie askew, in his big, brown leather chair and sighed. “A lot of people shoot at you,” he said. “To cope, you need a good hard shell.”