The Connecticut Office of State Ethics has opened a 30-day comment period in connection with a declaratory ruling petition from Common Cause in Connecticut regarding whether Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Katharine Wade's participation in the review of the proposed Cigna/Anthem merger would violate the state's code of ethics.
The petition asserted:
Long-time Cigna lobbyist Katherine Wade was appointed Connecticut insurance commissioner in April, 2015 when Anthem's plan to acquire Cigna was being negotiated. Prior to this time Ms. Wade worked at Cigna from 1992-2013; she was a vice president, overseeing government affairs for the company in all 50 states. In addition she was an officer in the CT Association of Health Plans from 2005-2013 and currently serves as health insurance and managed care chair of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Ms. Wade's husband works as counsel for Cigna and her mother and brother previously worked there. Ms. Wade oversees Connecticut's review of Cigna's merger.
The deadline for submitting comments is 5 p.m. on Wednesday, July 20, 2016.
At its regular meeting on June 16, 2016 the board voted unanimously to grant the petition to issue a declaratory ruling submitted by Cheri Quickmire, the executive director of Common Cause in Connecticut. By law, a declaratory ruling constitutes a binding statement of agency law. The 30-day comment period is an opportunity for comments (relevant facts, legal arguments, and opinions) from persons interested in this issue, the Office of State Ethics said.
Comments may be sent by email to or mailed or otherwise delivered to the Office of State Ethics at 18-20 Trinity Street, 2d Floor, Hartford, CT 06106. Submissions must be marked Proposed Declaratory Ruling 2016-A. All comments are “public records” and will be posted at http://www.ct.gov/ethics.
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Steven A. Meyerowitz
Steven A. Meyerowitz, a Harvard Law School graduate, is the founder and president of Meyerowitz Communications Inc., a law firm marketing communications consulting company. He may be contacted at [email protected].