Connecticut’s Ethics Board has said it will look once again at the case of Insurance Commissioner Katharine Wade when it meets later this week. The board is responding to a petition submitted by Common Cause.
Advocacy group Common Cause has added its voice to growing calls for a change of direction at the Connecticut Insurance Department. The state is taking the lead on reviewing a huge merger between Anthem and Cigna, but Commissioner Katharine Wade is a former employee, and her husband still works for the Connecticut insurer.
Cheri Quickmire of Common Cause says that raises plenty of questions for the Citizens Ethics Advisory Board. "Whether or not Commissioner Wade’s close relationship with Cigna, her long history as a lobbyist for them, will adversely affect her ability to conduct a review of the merger," she told WNPR.
Common Cause submitted its petition Monday - now the Office of State Ethics has recommended that the board issue a declaratory ruling at its meeting this Thursday. "I’m encouraged that they agreed so quickly to take it up at their meeting," said Quickmire.
But for Common Cause, the issues surrounding this merger don’t stop there - she’s also deeply concerned by a provision quietly passed late in the legislative session that exempts certain insurance company data from public scrutiny. "That’s a real problem. I think anytime when what should be public information is hidden, and the public cannot know exactly what the issues are, then that should not have passed."
Governor Dannel Malloy, who appointed Wade last year, has so far stood by her decision not to recuse herself from the regulatory review.
