STATE OF MAINE
DEPARTMENT OF PROFESSIONAL AND FINANCIAL REGULATION
BUREAU OF INSURANCE
| IN RE: |
) |
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| Application of Associated Hospital Services |
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|
| of Maine dba Blue Cross and Blue Shield |
) |
|
| of Maine to Convert to a Stock Insurer |
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|
| and Voluntarily Liquidate and Dissolve |
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|
| |
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ATTORNEY GENERAL’S |
| and |
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MOTION FOR ADDITIONAL |
| |
) |
PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD |
| IN RE: |
) |
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| Application of Anthem Health Plan of Maine, Inc. |
) |
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| to Acquire the Assets of Associated Hospital |
) |
|
| Services of Maine dba Blue Cross and Blue Shield |
) |
|
| of Maine and Related Transactions |
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|
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| Docket No. INS-99-14 |
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|
| (CONSOLIDATED) |
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|
NOW COMES the Attorney General, through the undersigned counsel, and respectfully
requests the Superintendent to consider establishing an additional period for public
comment on the above captioned Applications and the transactions contemplated thereby. In
support of this request, the Attorney General states as follows:
- The Superintendent opened the public hearing on the above referenced Applications with a
series of public comment sessions across the State of Maine in January of this year.
- The public hearing is scheduled to resume on April 3, 2000 for the presentation of
witnesses and other evidence.
- The hearing schedule in this matter is set out in the Superintendent’s January 5,
2000 Notice of Hearing which provides for the taking of public comment January 24-28 and
the presentation of evidence commencing April 3, 2000.
- While there is there is no further formal schedule in place for the taking of public
comment, the Superintendent’s January 5, 2000 Notice of Hearing indicates that the
Superintendent may determine that additional days of hearing will be necessary. The
Superintendent’s January 5, 2000 Notice of Hearing thus contemplates that additional
hearing time may need to be scheduled for the further taking of public comment.
- Additional public comment is warranted by the elapse of significant time between the
January public comment sessions and the evidentiary portion of the public hearing in this
matter. A great deal of information has been discovered or evolved in the past few months.
A member of the public evaluating the proposed transaction has much more information upon
which to base an opinion now than in January. In addition, the evidentiary portion of the
public hearing will educe even more information from the Applicants about their intentions
regarding the transactions proposed. Thus, ideally any further opportunity for public
comment would come at the end of the evidentiary segment, to give members of the public
the fullest opportunity for assessing the proposal.
WHEREFORE, the Attorney General respectfully requests that the Superintendent schedule
additional opportunity for public comment as an element of the public hearing on the above
referenced Applications, ideally after the conclusion of the presentation of evidence,
with public notice sufficiently circulated in advance of the session to allow for a
meaningful opportunity for public participation.
Respectfully submitted,
ANDREW KETTERER
ATTORNEY GENERAL
Dated: March 28, 2000 ____________________________________
CHRISTINA M. HALL
Assistant Attorney General
6 State House Station
Augusta, Maine 04333-0006
207/626-8800
