Florida Insurance Council - Covering Florida Since 1962
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel SB 1726 tweaks the health insurance shared savings program and is contained in the Agency for Healthcare Administration agency package which contains other non-insurance related provisions related to the agency. It passed its last committee on March 3, 2020 without amendment. It will now be heard on the Senate floor…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel During its meeting on March 3, 2020, the Senate Appropriations Committee amended part of its court jurisdiction bill (SB 1510) onto a different courts bill, SB 1392 (link). SB 1392 initially primarily dealt with allowing alternative offices for district court of appeal judges. SB 1510, the court jurisdiction stand-alone…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The Senate asbestos trust claims bill is ready to be heard on the Senate floor after clearing its last committee on March 2, 2020 without amendment. The Senate bill was not controversial in committee. FIC supported the Senate bill in committee. The House bill (HB 741) has already…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel House and Senate bills relating to TNC advertising, luxury TNCs, vicarious liability of TNCs, and TNCs for disabled persons is ready for the floor of both chambers. Thus, the bills are in good position to pass this Session. The House bill passed its last committee last week and the…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel SB 1148, a bill regulating electric bikes (e-bikes) and essentially treating them like bikes that are pedaled, passed its last committee of reference in the Senate on March 2, 2020 without amendment. No committee members asked questions or debated the bill. The House e-bike bill (HB 971) has…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The air ambulance balance billing prohibition is poised to pass the Legislature this Session. On February 20, 2020, the House passed its air ambulance bill (HB 747) with a vote of 117-0. The Senate passed their bill (SB 736) out of its last committee on March 2, 2020 with…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel SB 1672 protects vulnerable investors from financial exploitation by allowing investment advisors or dealers to delay financial transactions if they suspect financial exploitation. Similar bills were filed in prior Sessions, but never passed. It appears the bill will finally pass this year. Some life insurers are interested in this…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel SB 1366 provides more flexibility on who pays taxes on trust investments. Specifically, the bill allows an independent trustee of any grantor trust to reimburse the grantor for all or part of the income taxes paid by the grantor as a result of the trust’s income. The life…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel SB 898 increases the FIGA coverage limit and the FIGA emergency assessment maximum for condominium association and homeowners’ association FIGA claims. The bill passed its last Senate committee on March 2, 2020 without amendment. The House bill (HB 529) is identical and has also cleared all its assigned committees. …
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 Senate committee on March 2, 2020. It was not amended. The House bill (HB 1211) already passed that chamber and was…