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The Florida House of Representatives has advanced its version of the proposal allowing surplus lines insurers to take policies from Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, leaving the issue in the hands of the Senate. By a vote of 66-48, the House passed HB 245 allowing surplus lines insurers meeting certain requirements to enter into Consent Orders […]
Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty called for the Florida legislature to reform this state’s Personal Injury Protection (PIP) auto insurance laws at a media availability this afternoon. According to Commissioner McCarty, if the legislature does not act PIP rates will continue to rise to unsustainable levels, which ultimately would force repeal of the law. PIP reform […]
The House Judiciary committee has favorably reported HB 385 by an 11-2 vote. The proposal would grant sovereign immunity protection to emergency physicians. Current law provides that claims under sovereign immunity protection are limited to $200,000 per person and $300,000 per incident. The bill finds that ensuring access to emergency medical services is an important […]
The House version of a plan to reform Florida’s personal injury protection laws has cleared the House of Representatives’ Civil Justic Subcommittee by a 10-5 vote. The next scheduled stop for the bill is the Economic Affairs Committee. The House proposal (HB 119) is a 109-page bill making a number of changes designed to curb […]
The effort to reform Florida’s “bad faith” law hit a roadblock in the House of Representative that might signal its demise for this year. The House Civil Justice Subcommittee narrowly defeated HB 427 by an 8-7 vote. The bill would extend the provisions of Section 624.155, Florida Statutes, to common law bad faith claims in […]
The House insurance and banking subcommittee today considers a bill (HB 1127) that has broad support and would be one component of restoring private sector interest in the Florida property insurance market. The bill would reduce Citizens Property Insurance Corporation’s reliance on so-called regular assessments in favor of emergency assessments. The difference, of course, is […]
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has informed the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation that it will not reverse its decison to impose a medical loss ratio requirement of 80% on health insurers. The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation has been concerned for many months that imposing this medical loss ratio will be damaging […]
The Insurance & Banking Subcommittee of the Florida House of Representatives is scheduled to hold a workshop today to consider proposals for shrinking the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund. Jack Nicholson of the FHCF has advanced a proposal that will reduce the size of the FHCF, increase the industry’s retention, and increase the cost of FHCF […]
Both chambers of the Florida legislature are advancing bills that would surplus lines insurers to remove policies from Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. As Citizens’ policy count continues to skyrocket, the legislature is looking for opportunities to attract insurers that might be interested in its policies. Opponents of the bill have questioned whethere it contains enough protections for […]
We’ve heard the phrase before in many contexts– first do no harm. Let’s hope this line of thinking applies to the 2012 legislative session, particularly as it relates to Florida’s residential property insurance market. Governor Rick Scott issued a challenge several months ago for Citizens Property Insurance Corporation to dramatically reduce its exposures. Unfortunately, its […]
