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Tallahassee bill stops insurance commish from killing rate hikes |
WASHINGTON, D.C. - A new bill passed by Florida's Republican-controlled Legislature will leave consumers at the mercy of health insurance companies, allowing insurers to raise rates between 10 percent and perhaps as high as 70 percent over the next two years, according to U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL).
So Nelson, Florida's former treasurer and insurance commissioner, is asking Gov. Rick Scott to veto the deregulation measure. Even before passage of the measure (Senate Bill 1842), insurers were telling some brokers to expect that individual premiums in Florida could go up 35 percent to 50 percent, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Read more here.
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Charges dropped in case of two older tourists arrested in Turks and Caicos
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WASHINGTON, D.C. - Charges against two older American tourists arrested at an airport in the Turks and Caicos have been dropped after multiple requests from U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson to investigate the circumstances surrounding their arrests.
"Both these folks had to go through a horrible ordeal," Nelson (D-FL) said. "I hope we can still find out how a bullet they say was not theirs got into their luggage."
Read more here.
Watch Nelson's Senate remarks here.
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Experts envision professors, students in space soon
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WASHINGTON, D.C. - Not just tourism, but university classes in space are right around the corner. That's what came to light in testimony at a U.S. Senate hearing on the looming commercial uses of space.
In fact, at least one well-known American university already has made a down payment on a Virgin Galactic flight. That's the company that just two weeks ago launched SpaceShip Two and completed its first rocket-powered flight.
Read more here.
Watch Nelson's remarks at the hearing here.
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Senator requests fed probe of misleading info entered in consumer credit files
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WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) wants federal regulators to investigate and crack down on the mortgage industry's inaccurate reporting of short sales as more financially harmful foreclosures in many consumers' credit reports.
The Florida Democrat represents a state that continues to be one of the worst in the nation for the number of homeowners who are underwater because of the late-2000's recession and financial crisis. Nelson's call for probes by two federal agencies comes at the outset of a hearing today of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety and Insurance, which oversees credit issues. Nelson is a senior member of the broader Commerce Committee and reportedly in line to become its chairman within two years.
Read more here.
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If at first you don't succeed against big oil - try, try again
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ST. PETERSBURG, FL - While regulators and the oil industry have made some changes to boost the safety of offshore drilling since the nation's worst oil spill three years ago, federal lawmakers have yet to adopt a key bill needed to hold the oil companies fully and financially accountable in the event of another big spill, according to U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson.
The Florida Democrat is the lead cosponsor of the bill in question, which seeks to make the party responsible for an offshore oil spill liable for all discharge removal costs plus damages for each incident. Under current law, an oil company's liability is limited to removal costs plus only $75 million - a figure that pales to the estimated $20 billion to $40 billion price tag of the 2010 BP spill.
Read more here.
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Support growing for ending prescription drug windfall
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WASHINGTON, D.C. - Four years ago, a key Senate panel fell
just two votes short of passing an amendment offered by U.S. Sens.
Jay Rockefeller and Bill Nelson to stop prescription drug makers from
charging the Medicare program higher prices for prescriptions issued
to some of our nation's poorest seniors.
That 13-10 vote against the measure was in the fall of 2009.
But fast forward four years.
Now, President Obama supports it; 19 U.S. senators have joined to file legislation to end it; and, the AARP endorsed the lawmakers' move.
Read more here. |
Nelson backing bipartisan immigration reform plan |
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Senate staff photo: Celeste Brown
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Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) at a news conference in Orlando said he backed the principles set forth by a group of bipartisan senators as a framework to overhaul the nation's immigration system. "It would be unreasonable to try to deport 11 million people," he said. "We'd ruin our economy."
Read more here.
Watch Nelson's Senate remarks here.
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Nelson goes on python hunt in Everglades |
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Senate staff photo: Dan McLaughlin
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| Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commissioner Ron Bergeron and Nelson hunt for pythons in the Everglades. Read more here. |
Nelson begins third term in U.S. Senate |
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Senate staff photo
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| Nelson, his wife Grace and Vice President Joe Biden in the Old Senate Chamber. |
WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson was sworn in for a third term and is expected to play a key role in major decisions affecting senior citizens in the next six-year term.
The Florida Democrat will become chair of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging. Fighting abuse, including financial scams, will be among his priorities as head of the panel.
During his re-election campaign, Nelson discussed the need for more bipartisanship and civility in politics. He reaffirmed his commitment to working with Republicans, Democrats and Independents on the panel to advance causes important to America's growing number of senior citizens.
Read more here.
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