Florida Insurance Council - Covering Florida Since 1962
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel HB 599 expands the scope of practice for consultant pharmacists. A similar bill passed the House last year, but died in the Senate when it was never heard in committee. The full House approved this year’s consultant pharmacist bill on February 20, 2020 with a vote of 115-2. The…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel Bills relating to the use of nurse registries in workers’ compensation cases moved in the House and Senate this week. The House bill (HB 437) was heard on the House floor on special order on February 19, 2020 and approved for final passage on February 20, 2020 with a…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The House has two omnibus insurance bills moving this year, HB 359 and HB 895. They contain some of the same provisions but also have different provisions in them. The Senate also has two omnibus insurance bills filed, but one is stuck in its first committee, so the…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel HB 813 protects vulnerable investors from financial exploitation by allowing investment advisors or dealers to delay financial transactions if they suspect financial exploitation. The House passed the bill on February 20, 2020 with a vote of 118-0. The Senate will now consider the House bill. The Senate companion,…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel On February 20, 2020, House and Senate committees approved HB 1193 and SB 474, bills deregulating numerous professions and occupations. The bills include changes to the membership of the Florida Building Commission which may be important to the property insurance industry. Although amendments were adopted to each bill…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The OIR backed credit for reinsurance bill that incorporates substantive provisions from the 2017 Covered Agreement between the U.S. and the European Union (EU) passed its last committee in the House on February 20, 2020. A title amendment was adopted to HB 1211 to match the title to the…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel HB 529 increases the FIGA coverage limit and the FIGA emergency assessment maximum for condominium association and homeowners’ association FIGA claims. It passed its last House committee on February 20, 2020 without amendment. The bill will be heard on the floor next when set by the Rules Committee. Upon…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The House is continuing to move their accuracy in damages bill even though the bill is stalled in the Senate. The bill specifies the evidence juries hear for the value of past, present, or future medical expenses used to set damages in personal injury lawsuits. The House bill…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel SB 540, dealing with FIGA and FWCIGA, was heard for the first time on the Senate floor on February 19, 2020 and rolled to third reading. The Senate should vote on the bill during its next floor Session which is next Wednesday. The bill is supported by FIGA and…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel SB 1828, a bill designed to put requirements on litigation financing to protect consumers, but not to outright ban litigation financing, was effectively killed by the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee on February 19, 2020 when the Committee ran out of meeting time before voting on the bill. The…