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> Document 281 : INS 99-14 : Hearing Decision
STATE OF MAINE DEPARTMENT OF PROFESSIONAL & FINANCIAL REGULATION BUREAU OF INSURANCE
Pursuant to an Order of the Superintendent dated January 6, 2000, Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. ("Anthem"), on behalf of its subsidiary to be formed, Anthem Health Plans of Maine, Inc., has submitted an Application for Certificate of Authority to Operate a Health Maintenance Organization ("Application"). As part of the Application, Anthem included Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maine’s ("BCBSME") Quality Improvement Program Description. As set forth in the letter from Robert Frank, Attorney for BCBSME, which is attached hereto as Exhibit A, BCBSME asserts confidential treatment for the Quality Improvement Program Description. Consequently, Anthem has, on behalf of BCBSME, submitted the Quality Improvement Program Description to the Superintendent labeled as confidential. Pursuant to the October 19, 1999 Protective Order and at the request and on behalf of BCBSME, Anthem submits the following memorandum in support of such treatment. The information for which BCBSME seeks protection is sensitive because its disclosure would (1) benefit BCBSME’s competitors, and (2) reveal BCBSME’s strategic business practices. As such, the Quality Improvement Program Description should be protected. 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 case law. (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. The document for which BCBSME seeks confidential treatment reveals the methods by which BCBSME (1) assesses the quality of the services it delivers to its customers and (2) seeks to improve the quality of those services. As such, the information reveals BCBSME’s business practices, which would be valuable to competitors, and injurious to BCBSME if publicly disclosed. If disclosed, competitors could discover the means by which BCBSME seeks to assure the quality of its services to customers, adversely affecting BCBSME’s market competitiveness if competitors imitated those business practices. For these reasons, Anthem, on behalf of and at the request of BCBSME, respectfully requests that the Superintendent designate the Quality Improvement Program Description as confidential, subject to disclosure only under the terms of the Protective Order issued by the Superintendent on October 19, 1999, and exempt from disclosure under the FOAA. DATED: February 1, 2000
PIERCE ATWOOD
R o b e r t S. F r a n k
James B. Zimpritch Pierce Atwood One Monument Square Portland, Maine 04101 Re: INS 99-14
Dear Jim: I understand that Anthem Insurance Companies will be filing with the Maine Department of Human Services a request for determination that Anthem’s acquisition and operation of HMO Maine conforms to the requirements of 24-A M.R.S.A. § 4203, and is exempt from compliance with certificate of need requirements. A copy may also be filed with the Superintendent of Insurance. It is my understanding that the submission will include a copy of BCBSME’s quality assurance/improvements plan, and related documentation. I write to confirm to you that BCBSME regards this documentation as proprietary to it. This work reflects many hours of effort on the part of BCBSME staff. The disclosure of this information to the public, and to BCBSME’s competitors, would yield the benefits of this work to BCBSME’s competitors at no cost to them and, to that extent, would deprive BCBSME of the opportunity for competitive advantage that this work product promises. Accordingly, BCBSME request that Anthem request confidential treatment for these portions of the filing pursuant to Maine’s Freedom of Access Law, and to outstanding protective orders issued by the Superintendent.
Very truly yours,
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE The undersigned hereby certifies that on February 1, 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: February 1, 2000 _____________________________ James B. Zimpritch, Esq. Jeffrey M. White, Esq. Catherine R. Connors, Esq. PIERCE ATWOOD
Last Updated: July 16, 2008 |
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