Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Tuesday, July 22

 

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Commissioner McCarty to Testify Before U.S. House Subcommittee on Long-Term Care Insurance

Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty is scheduled to testify before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations at a hearing entitled: “Long-Term Care Insurance: Are Consumers Protected for the Long Term?”

Florida-based North American Risk Services Buys Unisource Tallahassee

Headquartered in Maitland, Florida, North American Risk Services purchased the Tallahassee divisional assets of Unisource Administrators from Claimetrics Inc.

COLUMN:  State Farm customers have other choices

It’s not that I favor State Farm’s huge proposed rate hike for homeowner’s insurance.

Pharmed founders charged with fraud

Carlos and Jorge de Céspedes, founders of Pharmed, once one of the largest Hispanic owned businesses in the country, were charged Tuesday with healthcare-related wire fraud and income tax evasion in federal court.

Hospitals to share $13.2 million, turn down $12 million

Three years after a series of hurricanes slammed into Florida, hospitals across the state are finally getting promised financial help for damages and increased expenses they incurred in the wake of the killer storms.

FL misses out on grants to help medically uninsurable

Federal health officials are divvying up $49 million among states that provide subsidized health insurance to people who can’t buy it because they have medical problems, the Department of Health and Human Services announced Monday. None of that money will be coming to Florida.

State mortgage regulator should quit, Florida’s CFO Alex Sink says

Florida’s top banking regulator is under fire after a newspaper investigation exposed that thousands of convicted criminals were licensed as mortgage brokers during the state’s recent real estate boom.

Showdown over criminal brokers is imminent

Amid mounting criticism of his leadership, Florida’s top mortgage industry regulator promised Monday to find out why his agency allowed thousands of people with criminal histories to sell home loans in the state.

Crist pitches Florida real estate to Russians

Off on a high-profile trip to Europe, Gov. Charlie Crist made a pass through Russia on Monday to ask our oil-rich, ex-Communist friends to buy Florida real estate.

EDITORIAL:  Florida is too weak in protecting the public from mortgage fraud

Chalk up another dubious distinction for Florida: State residents have been victims of mortgage fraud at a higher rate than anywhere else in the country. Worse, much of this crime wave might have been stopped if not for lax regulators and weak laws.

WellCare restates earnings after finding accounting errors, owed refund could top $46M

WellCare Health Plans Inc. is restating its earnings for 2004, 2005, 2006 and the first half of 2007, after determining that the company owes refunds under contracts to provide managed care services for government health care programs in Florida and in Illinois.

Study: Coastal wetlands can trim hurricane damage

Coastal wetlands dramatically reduce the damage from hurricanes and provide an estimated $23 billion in protection each year to the United States, a new study found.

Coastal cities seek common ground

When they face the ocean, the leaders of towns and cities lining the shore from Jupiter to Fort Lauderdale can see what they have in common.

Public workers’ union endorses candidates

Declaring that state employees can’t afford to have legislators on a “learning curve,” the labor organization representing public workers announced its endorsements Monday. 

Grimsley, Gissendanner Vie For House Seat

After four years in the Florida House of Representatives, Republican Denise Grimsley has plenty of specifics on the top issues she would pursue if she’s re-elected to a third two-year term.

Fla. to Ga.: Water war not just about mussels

Floridians upset by the lower flows coming down the Apalachicola River from Georgia made a clear point Monday: The tri-state battle over water isn’t just a case of people vs. mussels.

Florida Theme Parks Voluntarily Report Ride Injuries

One 34-year-old woman stepped off the Jazzy Jellies ride at SeaWorld and fractured her ankle. A few weeks later, at Roa’s Rapids in the same park, a 63-year-old woman inhaled water.

Louisiana Citizens asks high court for class action ruling

Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp. has asked the Louisiana Supreme Court to overturn two lower court decisions that allowed individual hurricane insurance disputes about the timely payment of claims to be treated as a class action lawsuit.

FEMA delivers incomplete disaster housing strategy

A  year overdue, the Federal Emergency Management Agency issued a draft disaster housing strategy Monday, which leaves it largely up to the next administration to figure out a way to avoid Hurricane Katrina-like problems that sent victims to toxic trailers.’What FEMA delivered today is a strategy without a plan,’ said Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu, one of FEMA’s strongest critics regarding disaster housing.

Mold found in FEMA mobile homes in Indiana, Iowa

The discovery of mold in federally provided mobile homes sheltering Indiana and Iowa flood victims has prompted new anger and frustrations for those who have lost their houses.

Car Buyers Can Get Totaled Car Data from Liberty Mutual and Carfax

It happens all across the country: people purchase used cars without realizing they were totaled in crashes, floods and other disasters. These buyers end up paying more than the car is truly worth, often face steep repair bills, and — most alarming — are driving potentially unsafe vehicles.

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