After the Affordable Care Act became law, Florida officials did not take steps to immediately implement it. Due in part to budget considerations and to hopes that it might be repealed or revised after the fall 2012 election cycle, Florida policymakers deferred preparations for the new law. Now the legislature has committees devoted to the task. The Office […]
Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty has named Wences Troncoso the OIR’s Deputy Commissioner for Life & Health Insurance. Mr. Troncoso follows Michelle Robleto. The Deputy Insurance Commissioner for Life & Health oversees the Financial Oversight and Product Review sections of the Office of Insurance Regulation. These sections cover areas including review and approval of forms and rates and […]
Firm shareholders Donna Blanton and Travis Miller recently were guest lecturers at the Florida State University College of Law’s Insurance Law and Regulation class. The class is taught by Ricky Polston, Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court. Justice Polston asked Donna Blanton to speak to the class on the topic of “Insurance Law from […]
Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater spoke before the Senate Banking & Insurance Committee to say that “standing still” on Florida property insurance issues is not an option. Atwater encouraged the committee to pursue legislation designed to reduce the potential assessment burden on all Floridians that would arise from deficiencies in the state-created insurance entities. […]
Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty presented ideas for “principle-based” insurance reform to the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee this afternoon. In his presentation, Commissioner McCarty identified several reasons the private market has difficulty competing with Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. Among these, the Commissioner noted a “mismatch” between primary rate levels and the mitigation discounts for […]
The New Year’s celebrations are over and it’s back to work in Tallahassee. Before the annual legislative session begins in March, the Florida Legislature will hold a series of committee weeks to continue considering proposals for 2013. The insurance-related issues under consideration will range from health insurance to property insurance to workers’ compensation. The following […]
Citizens Property Insurance Corporation often finds itself in the middle of widely varying opinions on how it should conduct its business. For everyone who says Citizens should reduce its size, someone else will say that Citizens indeed should offer below-market insurance products to consumers. The result, at least currently, is that Florida has a residual […]
The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation has released its most recent annual report discussing the state of Florida’s workers’ compensation insurance market. According to section 627.211(6), Florida Statutes, the Office of Insurance Regulation must prepare a report for the legislature each year assessing the competitiveness of Florida’s workers’ compensation market. In this year’s report, the […]
The ball has barely finished dropping in Times Square as the world of Florida insurance begins to pick up steam in 2013. The legislature’s annual 60-day session begins March 5, 2013. However, the legislature will hold committee meetings leading up to the session (and in fact had some meetings before the holidays). A few bills have […]
By some standards, there were fewer blockbuster issues in the Florida insurance market in 2012 than in some prior years. After all, this was not a year in which the legislature needed to tackle workers’ compensation or medical malpractice reform, and efforts at bad faith reform stalled fairly early in the legislative session. Florida thankfully […]