Florida Insurance Council - Covering Florida Since 1962
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel Sen. Brandes (R), filed SB 626 on January 31, 2019. The bill is the agreement between the Florida Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Association (FLAHIGA) and the Florida Association of Health Plans (FAHP) on how to deal with long-term care insolvencies on a prospective basis. The FIC Life and…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel Sen. Broxson (R), chair of the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee, filed the life insurance Interstate Compact bill, SB 614, on January 30, 2019. The 2019 Interstate Compact bill is the same as the one filed in 2018 which was also sponsored by Sen. Broxson, but did not get…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel Last week, we reported that HB 541 was filed expanding sinkhole coverage. This week, an identical Senate companion, SB 566, was filed. The bill changes the statutory definition of “catastrophic ground cover collapse.” A possible impact of the proposed definition change is that more damage than under current…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel Rep. Santiago (R) filed HB 561 on January 25, 2019 to restructure the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (FHCF). No Senate companion bill has been filed yet. Under the bill, the FHCF retention is lowered from $4.5B to $3.2B and the capacity is lowered from $17B to $7B. New coverage…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel This week, Rep. Zika (R), who represents Pasco County which is located in Sinkhole Alley, filed HB 541 which significantly expands the definition of “catastrophic ground cover collapse” used in sinkhole claims. This expansion will increase sinkhole losses in Florida and should concern the property insurance industry. The current…
By: Greenberg Traurig The House Government Operations & Technology Appropriations Subcommittee met on January 23, 2019 to hear several presentations by DFS, the meeting packet can be found here. This Appropriations Subcommittee is responsible for setting the budget of various state agencies, including the Department of Financial Services (DFS). The committee meeting began with the…
By: Greenberg Traurig The House Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee met on January 23, 2019 to discuss Medicaid Reimbursement for hospitals and nursing homes as well at Medicaid Managed Care. The meeting packet can be found here. Following are notes from the meeting presentations: Overview by Beth Kidder, Deputy Secretary for Medicaid Historical perspective Historically set…
By: Greenberg Traurig The House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee met on January 23rd to consider bill: HB 6003 by Sabatini—Traffic Infraction Detectors. The meeting packet can be found here. Bill Reported Favorably — 12-1 (Rep. Driskell voted no) Overview HB 6003 repeals the traffic infraction detector or red light camera program that was implemented in…
By: Greenberg Traurig The House Health Market Reform Subcommittee met on January 23, 2019 to hear a presentation from the Agency for Health Care Administration on the implementation of HB 1175, Transparency in Healthcare (2011) as well as a presentation from the Office of Insurance Regulation regarding the Florida Health Insurance Market. The meeting packet…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel During its January 23rd meeting, the House Insurance and Banking Subcommittee heard presentations from state officials on workers’ compensation benefits, litigation, and attorney fees. The purpose of the meeting was to provide background on workers’ compensation for committee members, many of who are new to the Insurance Subcommittee. Andrew…