Week in review - South Florida Business Journal:

ivyhofy.wordpress.com
In February, Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty approveda 6.4 percenyt increase in workers’ compensation rates in responsde to the state high court’s October ruling. Wednesday’ss announcement follows Gov. Charlie Crist’e signing of a bill last week thatcaps attorneys’ fees in comp cases. The bill essentially undied the court’s ruling in Emma Murray v. , which would have allowed attorneys whohandld workers’ compensation cases to collecg more money. Under the new law, attorneys will be paid basefd on a setfee schedule. The rollback will save employerssabout $172 million in insurancee costs, according to McCarty. It effectively restoreas the 18.
6 percent rate decrease that tookeffectf Jan. 1, with a projected savings of $610 million for Florida employers. After a round of cost cutting by a newmanagemenft team, the parent corporation of has regainedd profitability. BRCH Corp. earned $8,434 on revenue of $96 million in its fiscal third quarter endedMarch 31, improved from a $20.o9 million loss on revenue of $92.4 million for the same period of 2008, accordinh to the nonprofit’s report to its bondholders. The hospital’s boarxd hired Jerry Fedele as CEO in October ashis employer, Brentwood, Tenn.-based FTI Healthcare, worked on a consultinbg deal with the hospital to improvr its operations.
Fedele immediately embarked on an expense reduction plan that included laying off 38 employeea andrenegotiating contracts. For its next step to reduce costs, the hospital’x executives are negotiating for more favorablr contracts with managed care plans and its oncologuy and infusion therapyphysician group. Former Palm Beach Counth Commissioner Mary McCarty will be spending the next threer and a half yearsbehind bars. 54, was sentenced to prison in West Palm Beachh federal court and immediately takeninto custody.
In March, McCartyu pleaded guilty to mail and wire fraud She admitted in her plea to misusinfg her position to personallyenrich herself, her husbandc and their associates through a seriees of municipal bond transactions and through her receipt of gifts and gratuitiesz from entities and people doing businesds before the commission. She failed to revealo her financial interests while advocating for numerouse matters beforethe commission, and failed to file or file d incomplete or false disclosure reports to conceal her true financiakl interests from the public.
Calder Race Course is gettinhg into the gaming derby by breaking ground onan $85 104,000-square-foot casino with 1,225 slot The slot machine operations are expectesd to create 250 to 300 jobs at which is just south of the Miami-Dade/Broward countyt line near Land Shark Stadium, home to the . The Caldee complex also will include three Track owner ChurchillDowns (NASDAQ: CHDN) hopezs to have the complex completed by earlh 2010, in time for the Super Bowl and Pro Bowl at Land Sharo Stadium. , a privately held asset-trackint company, has moved its headquarters from Fort Lauderdale to the technology incubator at inBoca Raton.
The move shouldf help the company leverage the expertisre of nearby business development professionalz withtechnology experience, co-owner and President Steven Munteaj said. BlackBox has nine employees in Boca Raton and five more inBuenoxs Aires, Argentina. The company hopes to have 25 employeessby 2010, Muntean said.