Florida Insurance Council - Covering Florida Since 1962
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel A Senate bill making significant changes to the mediation process that are not beneficial to the insurance industry was postponed a third time in its first committee, the Senate Judiciary Committee. The bill sponsor, Sen. Steube, who also chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, postponed the bill for the…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel On January 30, 2018, the House Oversight, Transparency & Administration Subcommittee passed HB 227 with a strike all amendment (#982389) to narrow the scope of the bill. The amended bill loosens the requirements for first responders to collect workers’ compensation benefits for PTSD when there is no physical injury.…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel Bills dealing with insurance coverage for firefighters diagnosed with cancer were heard in the House and Senate on January 30, 2018. The Senate bill passed its first committee. The House bill was workshopped in its first subcommittee where a discussion of it was held, but no vote taken. Because…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel SB 7012 reenacts and saves from repeal the public records exemption in current law for proprietary business information provided by insurers in the private market to Citizens Property Insurance Corporation for use in the Citizens Clearinghouse. The information is provided by insurers to the Citizens Clearinghouse and used to…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel SB 1282 provides more disclosure to homeowners about the lack of flood coverage in their property insurance policy. The bill passed its first Senate committee on January 30, 2018 with two amendments. The two amendments adopted address concerns raised by insurers to the flood disclosure requirement contained in…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The Senate telehealth bill, SB 280, passed its second committee on January 30, 2018 without amendment. The bill has two committee stops left. SB 280 defines telehealth and specifies what types of Florida licensed health care providers can provide telehealth. Parameters for telehealth services, including standard of care, prescribing…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel On January 30, 2018, the Senate Health Policy Committee passed SB 492, the any willing pharmacy/mail order bill without amendment. The bill has one committee stop left. The House companion bill, HB 289, has passed its first committee and has two committees left. For individual, group, and HMO health…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee approved a completely new version of the autoglass bill (SB 396) during its meeting on January 29, 2018. The changes came via a strike all amendment (add adopted strike all number) that was adopted by the Committee. The bill became controversial as a…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel On January 29, 2018, the Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee approved SB 756 with no amendments. The Senate bill has one committee stop left. The House companion bill, HB 533, has cleared its committees and will be heard on the House floor on Wednesday with a vote on final…