Florida Insurance Council - Covering Florida Since 1962
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel On May 9, 2017, the First District Court of Appeal (DCA) upheld the 14.5% workers’ compensation rate increase approved by the Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) in October. The opinion can be found here. The case arose when a trial court invalidated OIR’s rate increase finding public records and…
By: Sam Miller, FIC Consultant The number of medical marijuana dispensing centers and the Senate’s fear of “a pot shop on every corner” was the deal breaker and kept the Legislature from passing legislation implementing Constitutional Amendment No. 2. The House and Senate got close in the final hours of the 2017 regular session May…
By: Sam Miller, FIC Consultant Trial lawyers in the Senate beat back a last-minute compromise attempt on legal fees from Sen. Rob Bradley and a possible agreement (HB 7085, CS/SB 1582) to reduce workers’ comp rates in the final hours of the 2017 regular session. Comp rates have gone up 14.5 percent since the various…
By: Sam Miller, FIC Consultant The House and Senate each passed legislation on aerial and sidewalk & roadway drones on May 5, the final day of the 2017 session. This will go to Governor Rick Scott soon. The Senate vote was 35-0 on the bill (HB 1027). The House vote was 115-0. Two drone bills…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The insurance omnibus package, HB 359, passed the Legislature on the last day of Session, May 5, 2017 after the House agreed to changes made to the bill by the Senate. Importantly, named driver exclusion language did not make it into the bill that passed. That language was…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel On May 5, 2017, the last day of Session, the Florida Legislature passed HB 1021. Part of that bill changes the building code adoption process. The building code adoption changes were part of a myriad of additions to HB 1021 added by the Senate and when the bill returned…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The Senate heard the House insurance fraud bill, HB 1007, on the Senate floor on May 5, 2017, the last day of Session. They amended it, passed it and returned it back to the House for consideration and approval of the Senate changes. Changes made by the Senate…
By: Sam Miller, FIC Consultant HB 589, legislation expanding MyFloridaRx, the state Internet site allowing consumers to compare prices for prescription drugs, is going to Governor Rick Scott, who is expected to sign it. The Senate completed legislative approval on a 38-0 vote May 5, during the last minute rush to completion of the 2017…
By: Sam Miller, FIC Consultant The Senate May 5, during the final hours of the 2017 regular session, approved and sent to Governor Scott legislation (CS/CS/HB 377) clarifying when the statute of limitation and statute of repose begin for construction defect claims. The Senate vote was 38-0. This had passed the House 113-0 on March…
By: Sam Miller, FIC Consultant Governor Rick Scott will be getting a bill increasing the Florida Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Association claims limit from $300,000 to $500,000 and adding coverage for annuities in Individual Retirement Accounts. The bill went to the Governor after the House accepted the Senate amendment to HB 307, so Senate…