Leaders agree Connecticut insurance commissioner has conflict [CTPost]

Speaker of the House Brendan Sharkey joined Republican leaders of the General Assembly on Friday in calling for state Insurance Commissioner Katherine Wade to recuse herself from participating in the merger of insurance giants Anthem and Cigna.

Senate Democrats, however, sided Friday with Wade, a former Cigna lobbyist, who won approval from the Office of State Ethics to oversee the possible marriage of the two companies.

Last fall, Republican leaders first asked Wade to drop out of the merger process, in which Anthem wants to acquire Cigna for $54.3 billion. They renewed their effort on Friday, following news reports on the lack of transparency, potential conflicts of interest and consumer activists critical of the millions of dollars from Cigna to state Democrats requesting that she resign or be terminated by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, her boss.

“Any merger review needs balance between the interests of the businesses and the impact on the consumers,” said Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, and Sen. Kevin Kelly, R-Stratford, ranking member of the legislative Insurance Committee. “We need to be able to trust the process. But because we can’t, this casts a shadow on everything the department does.”

Later Friday morning, Sharkey agreed. “At a minimum, the commissioner should recuse herself from further involvement in the Cigna-Anthem merger review,” he said in a statement. “Whether a potential conflict crosses a legal ethical line should not be the only factor here. Perception of a conflict is also an important part of the equation, and most onlookers, including consumer and health-care advocates following this issue all have the same perception.”

But Adam Joseph, spokesman for the Senate Democratic caucus, said Wade is expected to act professionally. “The state’s independent Ethics Commission has already issued a decision in this matter,” Joseph said. “We would expect Commissioner Wade to continue to hold herself to the highest ethical standards in all of her duties as state insurance commissioner.”

“I am following the Connecticut ethics statutes and I have taken the appropriate measures that allow me to carry out my duties as Insurance Commissioner,” Wade said in a Friday afternoon statement. “I have been and will continue to be in consultation with the Office of State Ethics as necessary and appropriate.”