On News Talk 1370 WCOA’s “Pensacola Speaks,” I will talk with Florida Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera who has been urging the Florida Legislature to take action on a controversial practice known as “assignment of benefits.”
Lopez-Cantera wrote Thursday to House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, R-Merritt Island, and Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, and said assignment-of-benefits “abuse” has led to fraud and driven up homeowners’ insurance costs.
“The current system allows for bad actors to exploit consumers and encourages excessive litigation, both factors in rising premium costs,” Lopez-Cantera, a candidate for U.S. Senate this year, wrote. “The system presently puts too much emphasis on contractors and lawyers at the expense of consumers.”
Assignment of benefits often arises when homeowners need repairs for problems such as water damage. Homeowners sign over benefits to contractors, who ultimately pursue payments from insurance companies.
The Lt. Governor will be on the show at 5:30 p.m.
In the first half hour, we discuss Rare Disease Day with local Lauren Wiley.
From a young age, Wiley has struggled with an unusual set of physical reactions. After constant crying, vomiting after ingesting certain foods and multiple visual hallucinations, Lauren was diagnosed with a urea cycle disorder (UCD), a rare disease affecting 1 in 35,000 U.S. births yearly, at age two. Called ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency, the disease prevents her body from effectively clearing ammonia from her blood. It has also required her to eat a low-protein diet and take 15 pills after each meal for the majority of her life.
Now 34 years old, Lauren combats her disorder by stabilizing her ammonia levels and keeping active. With a mission to bring awareness to the rare disease community, Lauren wants the public to know that a rare disease survivor can in fact be active and healthy. She currently works as a nurse and is active physically as well, recently running the Pensacola Double Bridge Run 15k.