Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Tuesday, October 12

Oct 12, 2010

 

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Guy Carpenter Forms Florida Reinsurance Unit

Reinsurance specialist Guy Carpenter & Co., LLC, a part of the Marsh & McLennan Cos., has formed a dedicated Florida business unit. The new unit, based in Tampa, will address the complex needs of Florida-based companies and the Florida insurance and reinsurance marketplace.

 

Miami Low-Income Senior Housing Building Hurricane Wilma Case Involves Elevator Repair Issues

United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit:  Cabana Club Apartments v. Pacific Insurance Company

The question of elevator repairs arose in this Miami case involving a low-income senior housing facility that suffered Hurricane Wilma damage.

 

Florida seeks waiver from health reform requirement

New rules may result in fewer insurers, higher rates, less service

A Sept. 24 unanimous vote by the state’s 14-member health insurance advisory board makes Florida the third state to seek a waiver from a federal health reform law’s provision requiring insurers to spend at least 80 percent of premiums on medical care.

 

Editorial:  State can shut down dangerous ‘pill mills’

Florida’s disreputable status as the nation’s pain pill dispenser should change soon, thanks to a new state law that took effect Oct. 1.

 

Florida Attorney General joins 39 states investigating foreclosure crisis

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum has joined top regulators from 39 other states in scrutinizing the banks, mortgage companies and loan servicers involved in the widening foreclosure crisis.

 

Florida CFO Sink’s audit raps ‘Taj Mahal’ courthouse

Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink says an audit shows some judges bullied a state agency into building what critics are calling a “Taj Mahal” courthouse.

 

Florida regulators delay power company cases

The Public Service Commission has postponed major decisions affecting Florida’s two largest power companies.

 

Blog:  Florida renewable energy bill will be back soon

The renewable energy bill that died in the state Senate this year because of concerns about its cost to consumers could re-surface as early as November.

 

NASA closer to getting extra space shuttle flight

There’s still the matter of money. But it looks increasingly likely that NASA will get an extra space shuttle flight.

 

Incoming Senate president jettisons longtime staffers as GOP consolidates power

The once-moderate Florida Senate is growing more conservative under incoming leader Mike Haridopolos in the wake of high-level staff firings and resignations that have thinned the ranks of Democrats in the upper chamber.

 

Advocates in South Florida push to implement new law that takes DNA upon felony arrests

Beginning in January, state law will require felony suspects to submit DNA samples to police for inclusion in a national database. But there’s no money to run the program.

 

Crist Denies Pressuring Meek to Drop Out of Race

Gov. Charlie Crist was the biggest show of a packed candidate’s forum held last night on the Tampa campus of USF. Crist says he’s got plenty of fight left in the race.

 

As CFO, Alex Sink more incremental than sweeping

When Alex Sink was elected Florida’s chief financial officer four years ago, supporters hoped she would lead a rebound for out-of-power Democrats in state government.

 

Clock is Ticking on Surplus Lines Tax Reform

The insurance industry called the passage of the Wall Street Reform & Consumer Protection Act on July 21, 2010, a “big win” thanks to provisions in the massive reform bill that would modernize regulation and taxation issues for surplus lines.

 

Trouble brewing in California workers’ comp system

One of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s crowning achievements, the overhaul of workers’ compensation, is in danger of unraveling as employers begin to face rising costs even though disabled workers now get less in benefits.

 

 

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