Radey is an AV-rated firm consisting of lawyers who practice before state agencies and in all state and federal courts.
The legislature altered Florida’s form and rate filing statutes in SB 468. Perhaps most significantly, the legislature specified that a forms certification process similar to the one currently in effect by OIR order will continue for commercial property and casualty insurance. However, personal lines and workers’ compensation are specifically carved out of the statutory change […]
The legislature passed the Cancer Treatment Fairness Act late in the 2013 session as part of HB 1159. The act takes effect July 1, 2014. It creates section 627.42391 relating to health insurers and section 641.313 relating to health maintenance organizations. The act requires insurers and HMO’s to cover prescribed orally administered cancer medications in […]
The firm’s legislative edition of the Florida Insurance Report is under development and will be available soon. The report will provide a summary of the major insurance bills that passed in the 2013 session, and those that were heavily debated but did not survive at the end. The report is available by mail simply by […]
The legislature entered the 2013 session talking about reducing the amount of reimbursement capacity provided by the FHCF. It leaves Tallahassee without changing the limits at all, but not for lack of thorough discussion of the issue. Lawmakers interested in reducing the state’s assessment exposure urged a reduction in the FHCF to be phased-in over […]
The status of the salary tax credit against insurers’ premium tax obligations became one of the highest profile insurance issues of the 2013 legislative session. The salary tax credit allows insurers to deduct 15% of the compensation they pay to Florida-based employees against the premium tax obligations they otherwise would pay. The credit is designed […]
After months of committee meetings and discussions, the Florida legislature reached compromises on changes to Citizens Property Insurance Corporation in SB 1770. The bill now heads to Governor Scott’s desk for review. The months leading up to the 2013 legislative session included discussion of far-reaching proposals that would aggressively restore Citizens to its role as […]
SB 1832 relating to repealing the insurance industry’s salary tax credit against the premium tax came up today in the Senate and passed 39-0. The bill’s sponsor, Senator Negron, discussed the rationale for the amendment, which essentially is to return the money to the citizens of Florida in the form of lower vehicle registration fees and not […]
Discussions about the proper size of the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund have been intense throughout the 2013 legislative session. The FHCF proposed last year that it should be reduced in size to better ensure it can meet its reimbursement obligations to insurers. However, last year’s proposal called for changes that were too significant and would […]
The so-called omnibus bill (HB 635) has passed the House of Representatives by a 100-17 margin and has been referred to the Florida Senate. The bill addresses a wide range of insurance matters, consisting primarily of issues that generally are thought not to be controversial. The range of issues covered by the bill includes: Extending […]
Leading into the 2013 legislative session, the most prevalent question relating to Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage was whether insurers’ rate filings were meeting the levels of savings lawmakers anticipated. However, that changed when Circuit Judge Terry Lewis found that last year’s PIP reforms improperly limit the remedies available to injured persons. Although the state […]
