Florida Insurance Council - Covering Florida Since 1962
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel On December 5, 2017, the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee passed SB 376 with one amendment. The bill loosens the requirements for first responders to collect workers’ compensation indemnity benefits for PTSD when there is no physical injury. This is the second year the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee has…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel On December 5, 2017, the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved SB 98, this year’s step therapy and prior authorization bill. The Committee adopted one amendment to the bill. Sen. Steube, the bill sponsor, stated the amendment adopted (#363404), was technical in nature. A second amendment was proposed by…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee did not vote on the PIP repeal or auto glass bills at their meeting on December 5, 2017 because the Committee ran out of time. They were allotted two hours to meet and a workers’ compensation bill for first responders took the majority…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee passed SB 162 during its meeting on December 5, 2017 with no questions or debate. The bill has two committees left. The bill prohibits a health insurer or HMO from retroactively denying a claim if the insurer or HMO verified the insured’s eligibility…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel SB 678 requires leases to specify whether the renter is required to purchase renters insurance and if so, the required coverage. The bill also requires a lease to provide information about the benefit of purchasing renters insurance if the lease does not require purchase of such. The Senate Banking…
Proposed Rule Changes Anti Fraud 11-21-17.pdf
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel Legislation was passed in 2017 (HB 1007) making significant and numerous changes to insurers’ anti-fraud plans and SIUs and establishing uniform anti-fraud prevention standards for all insurers. In response to the bill, the Department of Financial Services (DFS) has proposed changes to the current administrative rules dealing with insurers’…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel HB 299, filed for the 2018 Session, reduces the number of members on the Florida Building Commission because the bill sponsor feels it has too many members. The bill passed its first committee on November 15, 2017 and has only one committee left. The Building Commission implements and adopts…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The House Insurance and Banking Subcommittee passed the named driver exclusion bill, HB 329 during its meeting on November 15, 2017. The bill authorizes the specific exclusion of named individuals from private passenger motor vehicle insurance coverages. The bill prohibits an exclusion for periods when the names…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel On November 14, 2017, the House workers’ compensation reform bill passed its first committee with one amendment. This year’s bill is a committee bill, PCB COM 18-01 with Rep. Burgess-R handling the bill again this year. The House Speaker will now review the bill to determine if additional committee…