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Maine.gov > PFR Home > Insurance Regulation > Hearing Decision Index > Document 321 : 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 its response to the First Discovery Request of the Consumer Intervenors ("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 a limited number of documents, some of which reflect presentations that set forth Anthem’s confidential business plans and integration strategies and others that reflect Anthem’s internal process for determining whether a new drug or technology should be exempt from the applicable waiting period. These documents are sensitive because their disclosure would (1) benefit Anthem’s competitors, and (2) reveal Anthem’s strategic business plans and practices. 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
10 AN-03287 to AN-03314 Business plans/stragies Confidentiality agreement on file with Superintendent
15 AN-03176 to AN-03211 Business plans/strategies Confidentiality agreement on file with Superintendent
16 AN-03212 to AN-03246 Business plans/strategies Confidentiality agreement on file with Superintendent
34 AN-03264 to AN-03276 Clinical decision process 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 these memoranda by reference.

The first set of documents for which Anthem seeks confidential treatment (responses to question nos. 10, 15 and 16) reveal Anthem’s business plans for the integration of the East Region as well as Anthem’s business practices. As such, they would be valuable to competitors, and injurious to Anthem if publicly disclosed.

The documents submitted in response to question no. 34, AN-03264 to AN-03276, contain Anthem’s internal clinical decision-making process for determining whether a new drug or technology should be exempt from the general waiting period. The information would be valuable to competitors, and injurious to Anthem if publicly disclosed.

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: February 14, 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 February 14, 2000, a copy of Anthem’s Memorandum in Support of Confidential Treatment was served by electronic mail or via hand delivery 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 14, 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: December 8, 2011