Florida Insurance Council - Covering Florida Since 1962
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The Department of Financial Services (DFS) agency package passed its first House committee on March 19, 2019 as a committee substitute that replaced the originally filed version of the bill. HB 1393 makes changes in several areas administered or regulated by DFS, including unclaimed property. Most of the changes…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel Providing more options for health insurance is a goal of the Florida House of Representatives this Session because the Speaker has set health care reform as his top priority. HB 997 is designed to accomplish that goal. To that end, the bill loosens the requirements for disparate groups to…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel During its March 19, 2019 meeting, the House Insurance and Banking Subcommittee approved the House AOB bill, HB 7065, by a vote of 14-1. The bill is sponsored by Rep. Rommel (R), the chair of the Civil Justice Subcommittee. Two clarifying amendments were adopted and one amendment was…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel During its meeting on March 19, 2019, the House Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee approved bills to expand the scope of practice for psychologists and pharmacists. Neither bill was amended by the subcommittee. PsychologistsHB 373 expands the scope of practice for psychologists by allowing psychologists to prescribe drugs, including controlled…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel SB 626, the bill to equalize payment for long term care insolvencies by the Florida Life & Health Guaranty Association (FLAHIGA), passed its second Senate committee on March 19, 2019. The vote on the bill was 9-0. A strike all amendment filed by Sen. Brandes (R), the bill…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel A bill to clean up the Florida Workers’ Compensation Insurance Guaranty Association (FWCIGA) assessment mechanism and to make a minor change to the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA) cleared its second Senate committee on March 19, 2019. It was not amended. SB 496 is now in its last…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The House Transportation & Tourism Appropriations Subcommittee approved the autonomous vehicle bill on March 19, 2019 without amending it. The autonomous vehicles bill, HB 311, does not contain any insurance provisions. The bill changes and adds definitions in the autonomous vehicle law. It excludes autonomous vehicles from current law…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel A tort reform bill dealing with the dangerous instrumentality doctrine moved out of its first Senate committee on March 18, 2019 with one amendment. The bill pits business groups against the trial bar and is in response to a 2018 Florida Supreme Court decision which expanded the dangerous instrumentality…