Florida lawmakers prod Citizens Property Insurance to make deeper cuts

State-backed Citizens Property Insurance heard calls Monday from 25 Florida lawmakers demanding cuts they believe to be necessary to encourage private insurers back into the market, the Sun Sentinel reported. The insurer is meeting opposition from politicians opposed to state-funded programs and is being told to raise its rates to what they say are more competitive levels. Citizens CEO Tom Grady has already pledged to remove approximately 1.5 million policies. “Citizens Insurance should move toward once again being the insurer of last resort – not the beginning of a government-created single-payer system that supplants the private sector,” the group said in a letter signed by three state senators and 22 House members. [Sun Sentinel]