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Maine.gov > PFR Home > Insurance Regulation > Hearing Decision Index > Document 222 : INS 99-14 : Hearing Decision

STATE OF MAINE

DEPARTMENT OF PROFESSIONAL AND FINANCIAL REGULATION

BUREAU OF INSURANCE

IN RE: APPLICATION OF ASSOCIATED HOSPITAL SERVICE OF MAINE, d/b/a BLUE CROSS AND BLUE SHIELD OF MAINE, TO CONVERT TO A STOCK INSURER AND VOLUNTARILY LIQUIDATE AND DISSOLVE )
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IN RE: APPLICATION OF ANTHEM HEALTH PLAN OF MAINE, INC., TO ACQUIRE THE ASSETS OF ASSOCIATED HOSPITAL SERVICE OF MAINE, d/b/a BLUE CROSS AND BLUE SHIELD OF MAINE, AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS

Docket NO. INS 99-14 (CONSOLIDATED)

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)		 ANTHEM INSURANCE COMPANIES, INC.’S MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT

In response to the Second Discovery Request of the Attorney General ("Request"), Applicant Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc., on behalf of its subsidiary to be formed, Anthem Health Plans of Maine, Inc., d/b/a Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield (collectively "Anthem"), has identified documents and responses that warrant confidential treatment and has submitted those materials to the Superintendent labeled as such. Pursuant to the October 19, 1999 Protective Order, Anthem submits the following memorandum in support of such treatment.

Anthem requests confidential treatment for only a small number of documents. All of the information for which Anthem seeks protection is sensitive because its disclosure would (1) benefit Anthem’s competitors, (2) reveal Anthem’s sensitive strategic plans, and/or (3) invade Anthem’s subscribers’ privacy. As such, the documents designated by Anthem should be protected.

Specifically, after reviewing the documents responsive to the Request, Anthem hereby requests that the following documents should be designated confidential and disclosed only in the manner set forth below:

Response # Document Numbers Category/Description Access
8 AN-02576 to AN-02855;

AN-02871 to AN-03051

 Subscriber information Confidentiality agreement on file with Superintendent
11 AN-03052 to AN-03058 Internal claim payment discussions Confidentiality agreement on file with Superintendent

Anthem has, on prior occasions, submitted memoranda in support of confidential treatment that set forth the law generally applicable to confidential treatment of information under the Maine Civil Rules of Procedure and developed in Maine’s caselaw. (See, e .g., Memoranda in Support of Confidential Treatment of (1) Anthem’s Response to Superintendent’s Second Discovery Request, and (2) Supplement to the Form A.) To avoid repetition, Anthem incorporates those memoranda by reference.

First, a subset of the documents provided in Anthem’s response to Question Number 8 (AN-02576 to AN-02855; AN-02871 to AN-03051) disclose information about specific individual Anthem subscribers. Anthem’s subscribers have an expectation of privacy that should prevent public disclosure of the referenced documents. Moreover, although the documents as a whole are responsive to the Request, the personal information contained in those documents has no probative value to the substantive inquiries involved in this proceeding. By his Request, the Attorney General seeks to understand the nature and volume of complaints that Anthem and its affiliates receive from customers. The complainant personal information is irrelevant. Counsel for the Attorney General agrees with Anthem’s request that the referenced personal information should be afforded confidential treatment.

Anthem’s final request for confidential treatment is for documents provided in response to Question No. 11, AN-03052 to AN-03058. These documents reflect meetings of an internal Anthem team charged with addressing the payment of claims for a specific type of treatment. As such, the documents reflect Anthem’s business/operational plans, which would be valuable to competitors, and injurious to Anthem if publicly disclosed. Also, as reflected at the top of each page of the referenced documents, they were prepared with the anticipation that the documents would be kept confidential and used for internal purposes only. Insurers should be free, but moreover encouraged, to have discussion such as this. Forcing public disclosure of these documents would have the opposite affect.

For these reasons, Anthem respectively requests that the Superintendent designate the above-referenced materials as confidential, subject to disclosure only under the terms outlined above and exempt from disclosure under the FOAA.

DATED: January 26, 2000

 

________________________________

James B. Zimpritch, Esq.

Jeffrey M. White, Esq.

Catherine R. Connors, Esq.

Attorneys for Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc.

PIERCE ATWOOD

One Monument Square

Portland, ME 04101

(207) 791-1100

 

 

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

The undersigned hereby certifies that on January 26, 2000, a copy of Anthem’s Memorandum in Support of Confidential Treatment was served by electronic mail on each of the persons listed below.

Robert S. Frank, Esq.

Harvey & Frank

Two City Center

P.O. Box 126

Portland, Maine 04112

e-mail: frank@harveyfrank.com

(Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Maine)

 

Judith Chamberlain, Esq.

State of Maine

Department of the Attorney General

6 State House Station

Augusta, Maine 04333-0006

e-mail: judy.chamberlain@state.me.us

(Bureau of Insurance)

 

William H. Laubenstein, Esq.

State of Maine

Department of the Attorney General

6 State House Station

Augusta, Maine 04333-0006

e-mail: bill.laubenstein@state.me.us

(Office of the Attorney General)

 

Gregory A. Brodek, Esq.

Duane, Morris & Heckscher, LLP

15 Columbia Street, 4th Floor

Bangor, Maine 04401-6355

e-mail: gabrodek@duanemorris.com

(Maine Health Alliance)

 

Joseph P. Ditre, Esq.

Consumer Health Law Program

One Weston Court, Level One

P.O. Box 2490

Augusta, Maine 04338-2490

e-mail: jditre@mainecahc.org

(Consumers for Affordable Health Care Foundation/Coalition)

 

Michele M. Garvin, Esq.

Ropes & Gray

One International Place

Boston, Massachusetts 02110-2624

e-mail: Mgarvin@Ropesgray.com

(Central Maine Healthcare Corporation; Central Maine Partners Health Plan)

 

Robert I. Goldman

Maine Council of Senior Citizens

27 Bowery Beach Road

Cape Elizabeth, Maine 04107

e-mail: Rgoldma1@maine.rr.com

(Maine Council of Senior Citizens)

 

Bonnie Post

Executive Director of the Maine Ambulatory Care Coalition

P.O. Box 390

Manchester, Maine 04351

e-mail: bdpmacc@mint.net

(Sacopee Valley Health Center, Regional Medical Center at Lubec, Eastport Health Care, Inc., and the Maine Ambulatory Care Coalition)

 

John Dieffenbacher-Krall

Executive Director

Maine People’s Alliance

192 State Street

Portland, Maine 04101

e-mail: MPA@gwi.net

(Maine People’s Alliance)

 

Gordon H. Smith, Esq.

Maine Medical Association

30 Association Drive

P.O. Box 190

Manchester, Maine 04351

e-mail: gsmith@ctel.net

(Thomas D. Hayward, M.D.,

Maroulla S. Gleaton, M.D.,

And the Maine Medical Association)

 

Donald E. Quigley, Esq.

General Counsel

465 Congress Street, Suite 600

Portland, Maine 04101-3537

e-mail: quigld@mail.mmc.org

(Maine Medical Center)

 

Sandra L. Parker, Esq.

Attorney for MHA, Inc.

150 Capitol Street

Augusta, Maine 04330

e-mail: sparker@themha.org

(MHA, Inc.)

 

Kellie P. Miller, M.S.

Executive Director

Maine Osteopathic Association

693 Western Avenue

Manchester, Maine 04351

e-mail: meosteo@mint.net

(Maine Osteopathic Association)

 

Edward Miller

Executive Director

American Lung Association of Maine

122 State Street

Augusta, Maine 04330

e-mail: emiller@mainelung.org

(American Lung Association of Maine)

 

DATED: January 26, 2000

_____________________________

James B. Zimpritch, Esq.

Jeffrey M. White, Esq.

Catherine R. Connors, Esq.

PIERCE ATWOOD

One Monument Square

Portland, Maine 04101

(207) 791-1100

Attorneys for Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc.

 

Last Updated: July 16, 2008