Florida Insurance Council - Covering Florida Since 1962
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel During its meeting on February 20, 2019, the House Insurance and Banking Subcommittee passed HB 387, a bill dealing with surplus lines. One amendment (PDF) was adopted to the bill. As amended, the bill: Continues to allow a per-policy fee charged by a surplus lines agent, but removes the…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel SB 426 by Sen. Flores (R) makes firefighters who are diagnosed with certain cancers eligible to receive specified cancer related benefits in lieu of workers’ compensation. The bill cleared its first Senate committee on February 19, 2019 and has two more committee stops. The bill was not amended in…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel SB 322 by Sen. Simpson (R) related to health insurance preexisting conditions passed the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee on February 19, 2019 with a strike all amendment that kept the substance of the bill intact, but made some technical changes to it. The amended bill generally requires health…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel A bill making a technical change to last year’s bill requiring flood disclosure on homeowner’s policies cleared its first Senate committee unanimously on February 19, 2019. The only amendment adopted to the bill narrowed the title of the bill. SB 380 clarifies that the flood disclosure currently required by…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel For the second Session, a genetic testing bill related to life insurance has been filed in the House and Senate. The House bill, HB 879, surfaced this week with a new sponsor, Rep. Williamson (R). Last year’s House sponsor, Rep. Brodeur, termed out in 2018. Historically, Rep. Williamson has…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel Sen. Mayfield (R) has again filed a frozen formulary/continuity of prescription care bill. SB 1180 is substantially the same as her bill last year that died in its first committee after Sen. Mayfield refused to make changes to the bill to accommodate health insurers. SB 1180 prohibits individual…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel During its committee meeting on February 13, 2019, the House Insurance and Banking Subcommittee passed a committee substitute for HB 301 (PCS), the House omnibus insurance bill by a vote of 9-4. The “no” votes on the bill were due to the changes made to the bill to the…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel HB 323, by Rep. Starke (D), passed its first committee on February 13, 2019 by a vote of 11-2. The bill was not amended. The bill prohibits the shops or an employee of the shop to offer customers a rebate, gift, gift card, cash, coupon, or other thing of…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel After an hour and a half of discussion, debate, and testimony and after disposing of eight amendments, a vote on the Senate AOB bill, SB 122 was postponed. Had a vote been taken, the bill would have died on a 4-4 vote. Sen. Lee (R) was the swing…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel HB 751, a stand-alone bad faith bill, was filed in the House on February 11, 2019. It applies to first party and third party claims and specifies a new legal process for bad faith claims, with a hearing by an administrative law judge. HB 751 makes all appeals of…