Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Florida Health System Fined $2M for Multiple HIPAA Breaches
Oct 28 2019 // A major Florida health system with six hospitals must pay over $2 million after federal officials determined its HIPAA compliance program was in disarray for years. Federal health officials on Wednesday said they’re...
Regulator Orders Further Decrease to Proposed Florida Workers’ Comp Rates
Oct 25 2019 // Florida businesses can expect an even greater decrease in workers’ compensation insurance next year, thanks to an order by the state regulator for a further decrease to the recent rate filing proposed by the National...
NTSB Blames Miami Bridge Collapse on Design Errors, Lack of Oversight
Oct 25 2019 // A Miami university bridge that collapsed and killed six people last year showed significant design errors and should have been more carefully monitored by the state government because of the project’s complexity,...
Florida Specialty CEO Disputes State Regulator’s Claims, Says Insurer Not Insolvent
Oct 24 2019 // The head of recently shuttered Florida Specialty Insurance Co. says that claims by Florida’s insurance regulator that the company is insolvent are untrue. The company’s CEO, Susan Patschak, argues...
Harden Adds Mershon to South Florida Employee Benefits Team
Oct 23 2019 // Harden, an insurance, risk management and employee benefits firm in the Southeast, has expanded its South Florida team with the addition of Corey Mershon as Employee Benefits account director in its Fort Lauderdale...
Florida to Seek $633M in Federal Disaster Prevention Funds
Oct 22 2019 // Florida is developing a plan to tap into as much as $633 million in federal money to help prepare for future storms. Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Thursday that the Department of Economic Opportunity will coordinate the...
Olsovsky Joins Insurance Office Of America’s Southwest Florida Region
Oct 22 2019 // Insurance Office of America has added Shanna N. Olsovsky to its team in the southwest Florida region as a commercial risk advisor. With more than 15 years of experience, Olsovsky handles all lines of property and casualty...
Tropical Storm Nestor Spawns Tornadoes in Florida Gulf but Spares Panhandle
Oct 21 2019 // Tropical Storm Nestor was downgraded Saturday after it spawned a tornado that damaged homes and a school in central Florida but spared an area of the Panhandle devastated one year ago by Hurricane Michael. The storm,...
Florida Attorney General Launches Investigation of Vaping Companies
Oct 21 2019 // Florida’s attorney general announced Wednesday that she will investigate more than 20 vaping companies that sell the products in the state, saying there’s a growing epidemic of teens using the e-cigarettes. In...
Business Moves
Oct 21 2019 // East The Hilb Group, Damiano Agency, Handy-Apple Valley The Hilb Group LLC has acquired Rhode Island-based Damiano Agency. The transaction became effective July 1, 2019. For more than 30 years, DA has been delivering...
National Hurricane Center Issues Tropical Storm Warning Along Gulf Coast
Oct 18 2019 // A disturbance in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico is likely to become a tropical storm that will hit the northern U.S. Gulf Coast with wind and rain, forecasters said Thursday. Moving off the eastern coast of Mexico, the...
Florida Hires Mental Health Coordinator for Disaster Recoveries
Oct 18 2019 // Florida’s emergency management agency has hired a mental health expert to coordinate services after catastrophes. Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis on Wednesday said that Darcy Abbott has been hired as...
Florida Officials Say Insurers Not Doing Enough to Settle Hurricane Michael Claims
Oct 17 2019 // It’s been just over a year since Hurricane Michael made landfall in the Florida Panhandle, devastating the region as a Category 5 storm with 161-mph winds and causing more than $7.2 billion in estimated insured...
Florida CFO Patronis Appointed to FEMA National Advisory Council
Oct 17 2019 // Florida Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jimmy Patronis has been appointed to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) National Advisory Council (NAC) by Acting Administrator Pete Gaynor. Jimmy Patronis The NAC...
Timber Farmers in Florida Panhandle Face Tough Choices Year After Michael
Oct 16 2019 // The sunsets are a sight to behold in Joe Leonard’s neck of the woods these days. A year ago, lush stands of towering pines obscured the horizon, he said as he drove his pickup along a dusty Florida Panhandle road....
A Hint of Light in the Public Adjusting World
Oct 16 2019 // I recently read an article on Claims Journal about licensing for public adjusters. Here it is. Public Adjusters Winning Broad Support for Licensing as Carriers Fret About Inflated Claims Let me quote from a paragraph that...
Private Flood Insurance Growth Could be Boon for Claims Professionals
Oct 16 2019 // A nudge into the market by carriers offering private flood insurance is becoming more of a shove, which might bring new opportunities for claims adjusters and maybe create a more efficient claims process along the way. An...
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Acquires Florida-Based Direct To PolicyHolder (DTPH)
Oct 15 2019 // Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has acquired Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida-based The Doyle Group, Inc. and its affiliates, collectively doing business as Direct To PolicyHolder (DTPH). Terms of the transaction were not...
Insurance Office of America Adds Moser to Southwest Florida Team
Oct 15 2019 // Insurance Office of America (IOA) is has added Charity A. Moser to its growing team in Southwest Florida. She joins the new Bonita Springs branch location as a risk management consultant. Moser is a licensed Florida...
Florida Panhandle Facing Uphill Battle in Recovery One Year after Michael
Oct 11 2019 // A year after Hurricane Michael, the Florida county hardest hit by the Category 5 storm is still in crisis: Thousands in Bay County are homeless, medical care and housing are at a premium, domestic violence has become a...
