Florida Insurance Council - Covering Florida Since 1962
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The Senate is set to vote on SB 862, a tort reform bill dealing with the dangerous instrumentality doctrine. The vote should occur on April 25, 2019. If approved, the bill will go to the House for approval. The House bill has some differences, one of which is…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel On April 24, 2019, the Senate combined three health insurance bills on the floor to line up the bill with the House measure. SB 322 which originally dealt with only health policies with no preexisting condition exclusions was amended to add provisions relating to association health plans, short term…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel On April 24, 2019, the Florida House unanimously passed their autonomous vehicle (AV) bill (HB 311) with a vote of 110-0. The bill will now be sent to the Senate for consideration and approval. We anticipate the Senate will approve the bill as their version of the bill is…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel HB 673, the bill to equalize payment for long term care insolvencies by the Florida Life & Health Guaranty Association (FLAHIGA), passed the House on April 24, 2019 with a vote of 114-0. It will now be sent to the Senate for consideration and approval. We anticipate the Senate…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel In an interesting twist, the Senate Rules Committee took up the House genetic testing bill, HB 879, instead of their own version of the bill which was more beneficial to the life insurance community. The Senate Committee was able to take up the House bill because the House sent…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The Senate frozen formulary bill (SB 1180) by Sen. Mayfield (R) passed its last committee on April 23, 2019 with an amendment and an amendment to the amendment. The House bill is still in committee, so it is unclear how a frozen formulary bill will pass this Session. Under…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel On April 23, 2019, the House put their autonomous vehicle (AV) bill (HB 311) in position for a vote when it heard the bill on the House floor for the first time, adopted a strike all amendment (483839) to bring it closer to the Senate companion, and rolled the…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel A rule proposed by the Division of Workers’ Compensation (Division) to implement last year’s legislation authorizing first responders to receive workers’ compensation benefits for PTSD without a physical injury will likely be ratified this Session so that it can take effect. The House approved their rule ratification bill, HB…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel HB 673, the bill to equalize payment for long term care insolvencies by the Florida Life & Health Guaranty Association (FLAHIGA), will be voted on by the full House on April 24, 2019. It was heard on the House floor for the first time and rolled to third reading…