As Anthem Formally Seeks To Buy Cigna, Insurance Commissioner Stays On The Case Despite Ties
That's what Wade had signaled she would likely do, but it's not what her critics wanted to hear, considering that she's a former Cigna vice president, and that her husband still works for the
Wade made her decision based on a strict reading of the law, as she outlined in a six-page letter to the chief of the
"I was hired to do a job, I have taken extraordinary measures to carry out the duties, and I know I can do my job," Wade said.
Wade spelled out in detail the ways she and her husband,
The open question is whether Wade's decision to rule on the merger application will create the appearance of a conflict. But that's not a legal issue because
The fact that
Wade left Cigna after 21 years in
Her ethics disclosure form, filed in April, indicates that she owned Cigna shares in 2014, because, she said, she did not divest the holdings until
Wade said there would not be an appearance of a conflict, "because I believe that the law is quite clear in terms of the evaluation that needs to be made."
She added, "I haven't worked there in two years ... My husband is treated just like every other employee."
But critics, including the head of a
"The overriding issue is what I would describe as close ties to Cigna," said
Whitaker sent me a document that appears to be a complaint filed
Wade said Thursday she was unaware of the complaint. Under state law, it's a violation for a person filing an ethics complaint to talk publicly about that complaint unless it's adjudicated publicly. But that law has never been tested, Carson said, and Whitaker talked about it freely, knowing the law.
The complaint, as supplied by Whitaker, cites Wade's April disclosure, showing she held shares in Cigna, which was the latest public filing on the issue until Thursday. Even without stock ownership, Whitaker said, the facts "raise questions about her motivations to approve or disapprove of this merger, either way."
Wade has previously made clear, and amplified Thursday, that she will not have any role in matters that she handled while at Cigna; clearly, the merger, announced two months ago, was not part of her job. She also re-emphasized that
Carson's office signed off on Wade's appointment in February, before it was made public, though that was not related to the merger.
The heart of the appearance-of-conflict issue is one that's familiar to many regulatory agencies. Does Wade, as a former Cigna vice president, have a built-in incentive to help, or to hurt, the company and the industry from whence she came?
Not at all, she argues. Without expertise that can only come from working in an industry, regulators would be weaker. "Having knowledge of how the industry works, it gives you the ability, when you see a foul you can call a foul," she said.
Attorney General
Jepsen's office also must sign off on the merger application. He is an elected, constitutional officer and Wade is an appointee, so it may not be fair to make a direct comparison.
And it certainly appears that Wade took all measures, and then some, to eliminate financial conflicts and to follow the law precisely. The fact that the five boxes of documents comprising the merger application were filed by Anthem, not Cigna, does matter, Wade said.
Still, it would have been wiser for her to recuse herself, exercising the full measure of safety. Why not? By her own account, the department is staffed with excellent insurance regulators. By tradition, the commissioner does not preside over hearings in merger cases, and instead acts on the recommendation of the hearing officer and other staff members.
There has been some hand-wringing about the fact that Wade is the daughter-in-law of
Wade's mother also worked for Cigna, in marketing and policy, Wade said. The commissioner shies away from none of these political and employment ties. In her office is a black-and-white photograph of workers at the
So, do the connections matter? Not in a legal way, and Wade makes a case that her judgment is uncompromised.
She could have ended any speculation about the Cigna deal cleanly. Instead, based on her filing Thursday, unless new facts emerge, we will have to settle for the knowledge that our insurance commissioner is acting correctly under the law.
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