In the world of state legislation, it only matters when the Governor signs a bill into law. Therefore, please consider the bills described below as nothing more than a “heads up” of potential changes to Florida statutes. These bills are currently in the Florida House and Senate and are slated to be addressed in the 2022 Session. The bills are categorized according to their language and overall potential impact. The most notable bills include HB 713 (Auto), HB 583 (Claims Related), and HB 129/SB 328 (Health).

HB 713 – Required Insurance Coverage for Commercial Motor Vehicles – “Revises liability insurance requirements for certain movers' commercial motor vehicles; revises additional liability insurance requirements for certain commercial motor vehicles; provides exception for certain wreckers.”

HB 583 – Construction Defect Claims – “Requires claimant to provide written reasons for rejecting settlement offer; authorizes supplemental offer; provides notice requirements for supplemental offer; requires court to stay action under certain circumstances; limits attorney fees under certain circumstances; requires certain claimants to complete repairs of construction defect within specified time; provides requirements for payment of repairs; requires expert to examine defect & prepare report; provides report requirements; provides for compensation of expert; provides liability; requires certain notices of construction defects be sent to mortgagee or assignee.”

HB 129 – Insurance Coverage for At-home COVID-19 Test Kits – “Requires health insurers & health maintenance organizations to provide 100 percent coverage for at-home COVID-19 test kits; provides for expiration of insurance coverage.”

SB 328 – Insurance Coverage for At-home COVID-19 Test Kits – “Defining the term 'at-home COVID-19 test kit'; requiring health insurers and health maintenance organizations to provide 100 percent coverage for at-home COVID-19 test kits; providing for expiration of the insurance coverage, etc.”

Auto Insurance:

  • CS/HB 139 – Motor Vehicle Insurance – “Requires agencies that employ law enforcement officers to maintain motor vehicle insurance in certain instances while traveling in an official law enforcement vehicle; provides exceptions; provides liability limitations; provides methods to meet liability insurance requirements.”

Claims Related:

  • HB 275 – Loss Run Statements – “Revises definition of 'loss run statement'; specifies entities that must receive requests for loss run statements; specifies that insurers must provide loss run statements; revises required claims history in loss run statements; limits loss run statement requests with respect to group health insurance policies to group policyholders.”
  • SB 440 – Overpayment of Claims – “Revising the timeframe for submission of insurer and health maintenance organization claims, respectively, for overpayment to providers, etc.”

General Liability:

  • HB 933 – Toxic Mold Protections  – “Creates Toxic Mold Protection Advisory Council adjunct to DOH; requires DOH, in consultation with council, to develop & adopt certain limits, standards, & guidelines related to molds in indoor environments; requires certain property disclosures; provides for enforcement.”

Health Insurance:

  • HB 79 – Insurance Coverage for Hearing Aids for Children – “Requires certain individual health insurance policies & health maintenance contracts to provide coverage for hearing aids for children 21 years of age or younger; specifies health care providers who may prescribe, fit, & dispense hearing aids; specifies minimum coverage limit within certain timeframe; provides exception; provides that insureds & subscribers are responsible for certain costs that exceed policy limit.”
  • SB 498 – Insurance Coverage for Hearing Aids for Children – “Providing a definition of the term ‘hearing aid'; requiring certain individual health insurance policies to provide coverage for hearing aids for children 21 years of age or younger under certain circumstances; specifying health care providers who may prescribe, fit, and dispense the hearing aids; requiring certain individual health maintenance contracts to provide coverage for hearing aids for children 21 years of age or younger under certain circumstances, etc.”
  • SB 564 – Health Insurance – “Prohibiting health maintenance organizations from excluding coverage for certain cancer treatment drugs; prohibiting insurers and health maintenance organizations from excluding coverage for certain drugs on certain grounds; specifying a requirement for the prior authorization form adopted by the Financial Services Commission by rule; specifying requirements for, and restrictions on, health insurers and pharmacy benefits managers relating to prior authorization information, requirements, restrictions, and changes, etc.”
  • HB 633 – Insurance Coverages for Drugs and Medical Procedures and Treatments – “Prohibits health insurers & HMOs from requiring, before providing prescription drug coverage for treatment of stage 4 metastatic cancer & associated conditions, that treatment have failed with different drug; prohibits insurers & HMOs from excluding coverage for certain drugs on certain grounds; prohibits insurers & HMOs from requiring home infusion for certain cancer treatment drugs or that certain cancer treatment drugs be sent to certain entities for home infusion unless certain condition is met; specifies requirement for prior authorization form; specifies requirements for, & restrictions on, health insurers & pharmacy benefits managers relating to prior authorization information, requirements, restrictions, & changes; specifies timeframes in which prior authorization requests must be authorized or denied & patient & patient's provider must be notified.”
  • HB 917 – Insurance Coverage for Breast Cancer Tests and Procedures  – “Prohibits certain health insurance policies & health maintenance contracts from applying cost-sharing requirements to certain breast cancer tests & procedures; provides rulemaking authority.”

Property Insurance:

  • SB 186 – Citizens Property Insurance Corporation – “Revising the method for determining the amounts of potential surcharges to be levied against policyholders under certain circumstances; providing that eligible surplus lines insurers may participate, in the same manner and on the same terms as an authorized insurer, in depopulation, take-out, or keep-out programs relating to policies removed from Citizens Property Insurance Corporation; specifying that only the corporation's transfer of a policy file to an insurer, as opposed to the transfer of any file, changes the file's public record status, etc.”

Regulatory Related:

  • CS/SB 468 – Insurance  – “Redefining the term 'covered policy' under the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund in relation to certain collateral protection insurance policies; authorizing any association, trust, or pool created for the purpose of forming a risk management mechanism or providing self-insurance for a public entity to establish a quorum and conduct public business through communications media technology; authorizing insurers to file certain insurance rating plans based on certain windstorm mitigation construction standards, if certain requirements are met, etc.”
  • HB 503 – Insurance – “Revises annual audit requirement for construction classes to apply to new & renewal policies having estimated annual premiums over specified threshold; authorizes association, trust, or pool created for purpose of forming risk management mechanism or providing self-insurance for public entity to establish quorum & conduct public business through communications media technology; authorizes use of certain modeling indication for residential property insurance rate filings; authorizes insurers to file certain insurance rating plans based on certain windstorm mitigation construction standards, if certain requirements are met; revises conditions for determining ineligibility of condominiums for wind-only coverage; authorizes licensed personal lines or general lines agents to solicit, negotiate, advertise, or sell motor vehicle service agreements, home warranty contracts, & service warranty contracts without sales representative license.”
  • HB 695 – Property Insurer Reimbursements – “Revises requirements for coverage under Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund of certain policies assumed by authorized insurers or Citizens Property Insurance Corporation.”
  • HB 951 – Domestic Surplus Lines Insurers – “Provides term ‘eligible surplus lines insurer' includes domestic surplus lines insurers; authorizes specified nonadmitted insurers to transact insurance as domestic surplus lines insurers; authorizes domestic surplus lines insurers to write surplus lines insurance in any jurisdiction; requires such insurers to be considered unauthorized insurers & nonadmitted insurers for specified purposes; limits circumstances under which such insurers may write surplus lines insurance; provides such policies are subject to specified taxes but are not subject to certain other taxes.”
  • SB 1058 – Property Insurer Reimbursements – “Defining the term 'unsound insurer'; revising requirements for coverage under the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund of certain policies assumed by authorized insurers or the Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, etc.”

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.