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Tom Lee files bill to protect Florida seniors in retirement communities

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Tom Lee announced Wednesday he filed the “Protecting Florida Seniors from Financial Fraud Act,” seeking to safeguard Floridians in Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs). “Unfortunately, the conduct of a few bad actors, specifically the management of one CCRC in my community, has highlighted the need to increase oversight of these organizations,” the eastern Hillsborough County state senator said in a statement from his office. “Current statute does not adequately protect residents and employees against facility insolvency, loss of provider assets, and loss of…

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Report points to problems with AOBs, and a way around one proposed fix

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As the Legislature debates restricting attorney fees in insurance litigation involving assignment-of-benefits agreements, a tort-reform group has identified a way to circumvent that fix. Attorneys could convince policyholders to file suit in their own name. A report, “Restoring Balance in Insurance Litigation,” released Monday by the Florida Justice Reform Institute, discusses that possibility in the context of what it called abuse of “AOB” agreements, and of Florida’s one-way attorney fee statute. That law allows policyholders to sue insurers without the risk, should they…

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Insurers prepare for Irma aftermath

Insurance companies are prepared to meet Floridians’ needs after Hurricane Irma, state Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis and Insurance Commissioner

Sunshine Law invoked in arguments over workers’ comp rate increase

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The public will suffer irreparable harm unless a state appeal court stays Florida’s 14.5 percent increase in workers’ compensation insurance premiums, attorneys challenging the increase said in court papers this week. The National Council on Compensation Insurance, or NCCI, “cannot possibly demonstrate a likelihood of prevailing on appeal with respect to the trial court’s detailed, well-reasoned 73-page final judgment, which is founded upon fundamental open-government principles of Florida law,” plaintiffs attorney John Shubin argued. Furthermore, NCCI, which proposes workers’ compensation insurance…

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Insurance office appeals ruling blocking workers’ comp premium hike

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The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation has appealed a trial court ruling blocking a 14.5 percent increase in workers’ compensation insurance premiums, putting that ruling on hold pending review by a state appeals court. The office filed its notice of appeal Monday with the 1st District Court of Appeal. Leon County Circuit Judge Karen Gievers ruled on Friday that the National Council on Compensation Insurance, or NCCI, which proposes rates for workers’ compensation insurers in Florida, failed to open its deliberations to…

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David Altmaier promises active role in workers’ compensation debate

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The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation has no plans to draft its own legislative fix for rising workers’ compensation rates, but that doesn’t mean regulators are ignoring the problem, Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier said Wednesday. “We expect to be actively involved in that conversation,” Altmaier told reporters as his office’s biannual industry conference wound down. “We are going to have opinions on how potential legislation protects injured workers and how they access the workers’ comp market and things of that…

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Health insurance advisory panel starts work on legislative priorities

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The Florida Health Insurance Advisory Board is considering whether to ask the Legislature to address the “family glitch” — a regulatory quirk that can leave dependents of small business employees unable to afford health insurance. The problem, said board member Louisa McQueeney, is that small group plans sometimes don’t cover employees’ family members. Depending on how much the family earns, the dependents might not qualify for Affordable Care Act premium subsidies. “They can go to the marketplace, but without the subsidy,”…

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Insurers prepare for Irma aftermath

Insurance companies are prepared to meet Floridians’ needs after Hurricane Irma, state Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis and Insurance Commissioner

Decision near on proposed workers compensation insurance rate hike

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Florida’s business owners will soon find out the fate of a proposed increase of nearly 20 percent in workers compensation insurance rates. “We’re getting very close to being finished with those review and putting these rate filings out into the public, so our business owners and community can respond to that and plan effectively,” state Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier told Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Cabinet Tuesday. The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation held a public hearing in August on…

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