Cigna - Virginia State Corporation Commission, Bureau of Insurance
| Submitted | March 31, 2016 |
MuckRock users can file, duplicate, track, and share public records requests like this one. Learn more.
Communications
From: David Sirota
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to Virginia Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:
- All correspondence to or from employees of the Virginia State Corporation Commission’s Bureau of Insurance to or from employees of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners referencing the proposed merger between Cigna and Anthem. This includes correspondence to or from email address from the domain name "naic.org."
- All correspondence to or from employees of the Virginia State Corporation Commission’s Bureau of Insurance to or from employees of the Connecticut Insurance Department, including Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Katharine Wade, referencing the proposed merger between Cigna and Anthem.
- All correspondence to or from employees of the Virginia State Corporation Commission’s Bureau of Insurance to or from employees of Cigna and/or Anthem referencing the proposed merger between Cigna and Anthem. This includes correspondence to or from email address from the domain name "cigna.com" and/or "anthem.com"
I hereby request such correspondence for the dates 1/1/15 to the present.
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
Please search for responsive records regardless of format. I request the information in a machine-processable format, such as a spreadsheet (CSV or XLS) or word processor (TXT, DOC, DOCX) format. It can be provided by email, thumb drive, or CD. If it is unavailable in any other format, an OCRed PDF (i.e. searchable) will do.
If it is your position that some of these records are available but others are not (or a part of the request is too broad), please provide me with the records that are available.
If it is your position that any portion of the requested records is exempt from disclosure, I request that you provide it with an index of those documents as required under Vaughn v. Rosen, 484 F.2d 820 (D.C. Cir. 1973), cert. denied, 415 U.S. 977 (1972). As you are aware, a Vaughn index must describe each document claimed as exempt with sufficient specificity “to permit a reasoned judgment as to whether the material is actually exempt under FOIA.” Founding Church of Scientology v. Bell, 603 F.2d 945, 949 (D.C. Cir. 1979). Moreover, the Vaughn index must “describe each document or portion thereof withheld, and for each withholding it must discuss the consequences of supplying the sought-after information.” King v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 830 F.2d 210, 223-24 (D.C. Cir. 1987) (emphasis added). Further, “the withholding agency must supply ‘a relatively detailed justification, specifically identifying the reasons why a particular exemption is relevant and correlating those claims with the particular part of a withheld document
to which they apply.’” Id.at 224 (citing Mead Data Central v. U.S. Dep’t of the Air Force, 566 F.2d 242, 251 (D.C. Cir. 1977)).
In the event some portions of the requested records are properly exempt from disclosure, please disclose any reasonably segregable non-exempt portions of the requested records. See 5 U.S.C. § 552(b). If it is your position that a document contains non-exempt segments, but that those non-exempt segments are so dispersed throughout the document as to make segregation impossible, please state what portion of the document is non-exempt, and how the material is dispersed throughout the document. Mead Data Central, 566 F.2d at 261. Claims of nonsegregability must be made with the same degree of detail as required for claims of exemptions in a Vaughn index. If a request is denied in whole, please state specifically that it is not reasonable to segregate portions of the record for release.
I request a waiver of fees associated with processing this request for records. International Business Times is a news media organization. Disclosure of the requested information to me is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the government. The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that fees cannot be waived, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
David Sirota
International Business Times
(720) 854-4875
From: SccInfo
The SCC has received your information request.
For future reference, the public availability of SCC records and those of its operating divisions, including the Bureau of Insurance, is generally governed by Title 12.1 of the Code of Virginia, particularly subsection C of § 12.1-19.
The SCC has scheduled this matter for a hearing on May 25. See documents in case number INS-2015-00154.
Copies of the company’s application and documents filed in this case can be viewed on the SCC’s website at www.scc.virginia.gov/case<http://www.scc.virginia.gov/case>
Select the DOCKET SEARCH feature, then click on SEARCH CASES and enter case number INS-2015-00154. The case file is comprised of public and confidential documents.
The SCC’s Rules of Practice and Procedure set forth the criteria regarding confidential treatment of case documents.
5 VAC 5-20-170. Confidential information.
A person who proposes in good faith in a formal proceeding that information to be filed with or delivered to the commission be withheld from public disclosure on the ground that it contains trade secrets, privileged, or confidential commercial or financial information shall file this information under seal with the Clerk of the Commission, or otherwise deliver the information under seal to the commission staff, or both, as may be required. Items filed or delivered under seal shall be securely sealed in an opaque container that is clearly labeled "UNDER SEAL," and, if filed, shall meet the other requirements for filing contained in these rules. An original and 15 copies of all such information shall be filed with the clerk. One additional copy of all such information shall also be delivered under seal to the commission staff counsel assigned to the matter, or, where no counsel has been assigned, to the general counsel who, until ordered otherwise by the commission, shall disclose the information only to the members of the commission staff directly assigned to the matter as necessary in the discharge of their duties. Staff counsel and all members of the commission staff, until otherwise ordered by the commission, shall maintain the information in strict confidence and shall not disclose its contents to members of the public, or to other staff members not assigned to the matter. The commission staff or any party may object to the proposed withholding of the information.
When an application (including supporting documents and prefiled testimony) contains information that the applicant claims to be confidential, the filing shall be made under seal and accompanied by a motion for protective order or other confidential treatment. The provision to a party of information claimed to be trade secrets, privileged, or confidential commercial or financial information shall be governed by a protective order or other individual arrangements for confidential treatment.
On every document filed or delivered under seal, the producing party shall mark each individual page of the document that contains confidential information, and on each such page shall clearly indicate the specific information requested to be treated as confidential by use of highlighting, underscoring, bracketing or other appropriate marking. All remaining materials on each page of the document shall be treated as nonconfidential and available for public use and review. If an entire document is confidential, or if all information provided electronic format under Part IV of these rules is confidential, a marking prominently displayed on the first page of such document or at the beginning of any information provided in electronic format, indicating that the entire document is confidential shall suffice.
Upon challenge, the information shall be treated as confidential pursuant to these rules only where the party requesting confidential treatment can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the commission that the risk of harm of publicly disclosing the information outweighs the presumption in favor of public disclosure. If the commission determines that the information should be withheld from public disclosure, it may nevertheless require the information to be disclosed to parties to a proceeding under appropriate protective order.
Whenever a document is filed with the clerk under seal, an original and one copy of an expurgated or redacted version of the document deemed by the filing party or determined by the commission to be confidential shall be filed with the clerk for use and review by the public. A document containing confidential information shall not be submitted electronically. An expurgated or redacted version of the document may be filed electronically. Documents containing confidential information must be filed in hardcopy and in accordance with all requirements of these rules. Upon a determination by the commission, or a hearing examiner, that all or portions of any materials filed under seal are not entitled to confidential treatment, the filing party shall file one original and one copy of the expurgated or redacted version of the document reflecting the ruling.
When the information at issue is not required to be filed or made a part of the record, a party who wishes to withhold confidential information from filing or production may move the commission for a protective order without filing the materials. In considering such a motion, the commission may require production of the confidential materials for inspection in camera, if necessary.
A party may request additional protection for extraordinarily sensitive information by motion filed pursuant to 5 VAC 5-20-110, and filing the information with the Clerk of the Commission under seal and delivering a copy of the information to commission staff counsel under seal as directed above. Whenever such treatment has been requested under Part IV of these rules, the commission may make such orders as necessary to permit parties to challenge the requested additional protection.
The commission, hearing examiners, any party and the commission staff may make use of confidential material in orders, filing pleadings, testimony , or other documents, as directed by order of the commission. When a party or commission staff uses confidential material in a filed pleading, testimony, or other document, the party or commission staff must file both confidential and nonconfidential versions of the pleading, testimony, or other document. Confidential versions of filed pleadings, testimony, or other documents shall clearly indicate the confidential material contained within by highlighting, underscoring, bracketing or other appropriate marking. When filing confidential pleadings, testimony, or other documents, parties must submit the confidential version to the Clerk of the Commission securely sealed in an opaque container that is clearly labeled "UNDER SEAL." Nonconfidential versions of filed pleadings, testimony, or other documents shall expurgate, redact, or otherwise omit all references to confidential material.
The commission may issue such order as it deems necessary to prevent the use of confidentiality claims for the purpose of delay or obstruction of the proceeding.
A person who proposes in good faith that information to be delivered to the commission staff outside of a formal proceeding be withheld from public disclosure on the ground that it contains trade secrets, privileged, or confidential commercial or financial information may deliver the information under seal to the commission staff, subject to the same protections afforded confidential information in formal proceedings.
Kenneth (Ken) J. Schrad
Director
Division of Information Resources
State Corporation Commission
PO Box 1197
Richmond VA 23218
e-mail: ken.schrad@scc.virginia.gov<mailto:ken.schrad@scc.virginia.gov>
office: 804-371-9858
cell: 804-334-6454
-
~WRD000
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I'm following up on the following Freedom of Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on March 31, 2016. You previously indicated that it would be completed on May 25, 2016. I wanted to let you know that I am still interested in the following documents, and to see if that date was still accurate.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: SccInfo
Yes, the hearing date is still set for May 25. The hearing is being web cast (audio).
All public comments and correspondence sent to the Bureau regarding the Anthem acquisition of Cigna Dental Health of Virginia, Inc. are being made part of the case file to which you have already been referenced.
As to communications between Bureau of Insurance staff and insurance companies and other state insurance regulators, I am advised by counsel that all such communications and records regarding pending regulatory matters are confidential pursuant to sections 38.2-1306, 38.2-1317.2 and 38.2-1333 of the Code of Virginia.
Once a regulatory matter becomes a case before the Commission, then non-confidential records associated with that case are made part of the public file.
Kenneth (Ken) J. Schrad
Director
Division of Information Resources
State Corporation Commission
PO Box 1197
Richmond VA 23218
e-mail: ken.schrad@scc.virginia.gov<mailto:ken.schrad@scc.virginia.gov>
office: 804-371-9858
cell: 804-334-6454
-
~WRD000