Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Michael MolineFebruary 2, 2018

An attempt in the Florida House to scale back legislation targeting retroactive denials of medical insurance claims hasn’t exactly mollified the insurance lobby. A string of lobbyists representing health carriers testified during a recent committee hearing against HB 217 by Boca Raton Republican Bill Hager, notwithstanding an amendment restricting its provisions to policy grace periods […]

Peter SchorschDecember 14, 2017

The Florida Medical Association is teaming up with a Sunrise-based tech company to help patients better understand the cost of medical care by swiping a card after an appointment. The deal, announced Thursday, gives FMA doctors access to “ezVerify,” a software platform from Automated HealthCare Solutions that promises to identify patient-specific health insurance information in […]

Mitch PerryOctober 19, 2017

A potential breakthrough in health care legislation broke out this week with the announcement of a bipartisan deal in the Senate proposed by Tennessee Republican Lamar Alexander and Washington Democrat Patty Murray. The deal would include funding through 2019 for the Affordable Care Act’s cost-sharing program, which President Donald Trump cut last week. It would allow […]

Associated PressSeptember 26, 2017

Premiums for health care plans sold on the Affordable Care Act’s federal exchange and outside the exchange will rise an average of 45 percent in Florida this year, according to state officials. However that doesn’t mean consumers will end up spending more money. In fact, they could end up seeing slight decreases. Florida’s Office of […]

Jim RosicaMay 9, 2017

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A day after the end of the 2017 Legislative Session, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum on Monday called on state lawmakers to pass a bill “strengthening insurance protections for those with pre-existing conditions.” Gillum, the sitting mayor of Tallahassee, appeared at the Florida Press Center with two local women who told of their family members’ […]

Associated PressMay 4, 2017

Florida Blue says it’s resolved an error that caused multiple withdrawals to be taken from the bank accounts of nearly 10,000 consumers to pay their May health insurance premium. Florida insurance officials said Wednesday that Florida Blue consumers were seeing multiple withdrawals instead of the scheduled one-time payment. Florida Blue blamed the error on a […]

Staff ReportsFebruary 13, 2017

Legislation filed in the Senate would let state employees decide between four levels of group health insurance coverage, so they could buy cheaper, stripped-down plans or pay for more comprehensive care. “Our current plan offers limited choices and lacks the price transparency needed for employees and their families to make cost-effective health care purchases,” bill […]

Guest AuthorOctober 4, 2016

Though death and taxes have long been thought to be the two certainties in life, it’s now looking like skyrocketing health care costs comes in a close third. Florida state officials recently approved an average health insurance premium increase of 19 percent. And these hikes come after state officials raised rates 9.5 percent last year […]

Jenna Buzzacco-FoersterJuly 21, 2016

Florida will join a lawsuit to stop the merger of Aetna and Humana. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Thursday that she will join seven other state attorneys general, the District of Columbia, and the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division in a legal challenge to stop the merger of the two health insurers. According […]

Associated PressMay 25, 2016

Nearly a dozen health insurers are proposing rate increases averaging 13 percent for 2017 Florida plans sold on the exchanges created under President Barack Obama‘s health care law, but that won’t necessarily mean big consumer price hikes. The largest increase is a whopping 44 percent requested by one Humana plan. Aetna wants a 29 percent […]

Tag: health insurance

Insurance lobby pulls knives out for ‘retroactive denial of claims’ bill

FMA using new software to boost healthcare cost transparency for patients

Kathy Castor optimistic about bipartisan health care proposal

Insurers request steep premium hikes for Florida, but Obamacare subsidies may offset the impact

Andrew Gillum calls for ‘strengthening’ Obamacare in Florida

Florida Blue health plan resolving multiple withdrawal error

Senate bill would shake up state worker health insurance plans

Chris Hudson: Death, taxes and health care

Florida joins lawsuit to block health insurance merger

Florida insurers request rate hikes under federal health law