Florida Insurance Council - Covering Florida Since 1962
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…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel Two legal reform provisions are included in the House insurance omnibus bill, HB 301, filed last week by Rep. Santiago (R). Various stakeholders representing the insurance industry are the proponents of the omnibus bill. The Senate companion to the House omnibus bill has not yet been filed. One provision…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel Two AOB bills have been filed in the House the past week. Although they share some of the same language, one is more comprehensive. Language in both bills is similar to language proposed by the House last year. Both bills are filed by freshmen Democrat House members. Neither has…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel During its January 22, 2019 committee meeting, the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee held its first discussion on AOBs and restricting one-way attorney fees to the named insured. The Committee ran out of meeting time before the completing the discussion, so the Chair said the discussion will continue at…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The Florida Building Commission (Commission) gave the House Commerce Committee an overview of the Florida Building Code (Code), its adoption, and implementation during its committee meeting on January 22, 2019. The presentation can be found here. The process for updating the Code was discussed. According to the presentation, the…