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By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel On March 11, 2019, the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee passed SB 264 which deals with how the Florida Workers’ Compensation Joint Underwriting Association (FWCJUA) handles unclaimed dividends and premium refunds. One amendment was adopted to the bill. The amendment puts more parameters around the process the FWCJUA…
By: Greenberg Traurig The Senate Committee on Community Affairs met on March 5, 2019 to consider SB 426, Firefighters, by Senator Flores. The committee packet can be found here. SB 426, Firefighters, by Sen. Flores – PASSED Summary No summary of the bill given as Sen. Flores discussed the strike-all amendment first. Strike All Amendment…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The House workers’ compensation bill surfaced on March 5, 2019. HB 1399 is sponsored by Rep. Byrd (R). After a quick review of the bill, it appears to address the following issues: More specificity for Petitions for Benefits (PFB) Good faith effort by claimant to resolve dispute before…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel A bill that cleans up the Florida Workers’ Compensation Insurance Guaranty Association (FWCIGA) assessment provisions and makes a minor change to the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA) cleared its first Senate committee on March 4, 2019 with a strike all amendment that more closely aligns the Senate bill to…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel On March 1, 2019, Sen. Perry (R) filed SB 1636 dealing with workers’ compensation. Although the bill is not as comprehensive as workers’ comp reform bills filed in past Sessions, it deals with the attorney fee issue which is a large cost driver in workers’ compensation. The bill does…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel On February 20, 2019, the House Insurance and Banking Subcommittee passed a committee substitute for HB 537, a bill dealing with how the Florida Workers’ Compensation Joint Underwriting Association (FWCJUA) handles unclaimed dividends and premium refunds. Under the bill, the FWCJUA can retain unclaimed dividends or premium refunds…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel A bill that primarily cleans up FWCIGA assessment provisions and makes a minor change to FIGA cleared its first committee on February 20, 2019 with three amendments. HB 429 has two committees left. The Senate bill, SB 496, has not yet been heard in committee. Regarding FWCIGA, the amended…
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…