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> Document 596 : INS 99-14 : Hearing Decision
STATE OF MAINE
BCBSME joins Anthem in its opposition to the private Intervenors’ pending motions for reconsideration of the Superintendent’s Orders regarding expert witnesses and deadlines. This memorandum will not repeat all of the arguments advanced in Anthem’s memorandum. Certain elemental points deserve to be emphasized. No one who practices law in the courts of this State could have misunderstood the import of the Superintendent’s Order requiring that parties expert witness reports be filed by March 2, 2000. Any argument to the contrary is simply disingenuous. Were there any cause for uncertainty about this, the Intervenors could have asked the Superintendent’s staff or the assistant Attorney General advising the Superintendent on this matter at the Friday morning meetings. In fact, the default has been repeated. Separate and apart from their failure to file the reports, Intervenors failed to provide substantive answers to the Applicants’ discovery requests regarding experts, propounded by the Applicants on February 4, 2000. Only Maine Hospital Association has made a creditable effort to overcome its defaults, by filing in full last week the pre-filed testimony of its proposed experts. In its case, however, the proposed testimony is clearly beyond the scope of this proceeding. Nothing in the conversion of BlueCross BlueShield of Maine or the sale to Anthem will inherently result in the type of provider contracting clauses that MHA wishes to forestall. Put another away, it is as possible for BCBSME now to use such clauses in Maine as it will be for Anthem BCBSME after the closing. The conversion and sale to Anthem make no legal difference. By contrast, Consumers for Affordable Healthcare has not rectified its defaults, despite promises to do so. At this late date, it has yet to provide Norbert Goldfield M.D.’s opinions, or the bases for them, even in summary form. Stating the subject areas that Dr. Goldfield will cover is not an expert report of his opinions or the bases for them, nor is it a response to the Applicants’ discovery requests of February 4, 2000. Last Friday, CAHC provided the thinnest of summaries of Dr. Robert Strong’s opinions concerning the Houlihan Lokey valuation of BCBSME. None of the opinions of Dr. Strong are based on any lately arriving data; his opinions could have been formulated months ago. There is no good excuse for CAHC’s delay in retaining Dr. Strong to develop such opinions. Finally, Maine Medical Association has yet to describe any opinions for its proposed experts, let alone the bases for them. Intervening in a proceeding such as this carries with it some basic responsibilities. All parties must abide by the Superintendent’s rules and orders. It is inevitable in proceedings of this length that there will be oversights and mistakes. But when the defaults are fundamental, unexcused, and at all events not corrected promptly, the Superintendent should act to vindicate the integrity of the process. SUMMARY In early March, the Superintendent announced loudly and clearly that the Intervenors’ failure to file experts reports would preclude the defaulting parties from adducing expert testimony at the hearings beginning April 3, 2000, unless leave to do so were obtained from the Superintendent. None of the defaulting Intervenors has given the Superintendent reason now to permit such testimony. In the case of MHA, the proposed testimony is irrelevant, and in the cases of CAHC and MMA, neither has done what it needed to do to rectify its defaults. Date: March 27, 2000
HARVEY & FRANK Two City Center Suite 402 Portland, Maine 04112-0126 (207) 775-1300 Attorneys for BlueCross BlueShield of Maine CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE The undersigned hereby certifies that on March 27, 2000, a copy of BCBSME’S OPPOSITION TO INTERVENORS’ MOTIONS REGARDING WITNESSES AND ISSUES was served by United States mail, first class postage prepaid, or, where indicated, by hand delivery, or e-mail, on each of the persons listed below. James B. Zimpritch Pierce Atwood One Monument Square Portland, Maine 04101 e-mail: jzimpritch@pierceatwood.com 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) John P. Doyle, Esq. Preti, Flaherty, Beliveau & Pachios, LLC One City Center PO Box 9546 Portland, Maine 04112-9546 (Maine Hospital Association)
Michel LaFond Sulloway and Hollis, P.L.L.C. 9 Capitol Street Box 1256 Concord, New Hampshire 03302-1256
Last Updated: July 16, 2008 |
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