Fertility Preservation, Implementation Investigation

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:

To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA"), I hereby request the following records:
- Communications to or from employees of the Office of the Insurance Commissioner and/or Deputy Insurance Commissioner to or from Connecticut Senate and House lawmakers regarding 2017 House Bill 5968, 2017 Substitute House Bill 7124 and/or 2017 Public Act 55.

This includes -- but is not necessarily limited to – emails and text messages – referencing the following words and phrases: “fertility preservation,” “fertility treatment,” “fertility mandate” “infertility,” “iatrogenic”, “cryopreservation,” “egg freezing”, “sperm freezing,” “HB 5968,” " HB5968," "HB 7124,” “HB7124,” “5968,” “7124,” “PA 17-55,” “Public Act 17-55,” “17-55,” and/or, “AN ACT REQUIRING HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE FOR FERTILITY PRESERVATION FOR INSUREDS DIAGNOSED WITH CANCER”. The specific emails and text messages I request are those from 1/1/17 to the present.

- All communications (emails, text messages, and any other communication available) to or from employees of the Office of the Insurance Commissioner and/or Deputy Insurance Commissioner that reference 2017 House Bill 5968, 2017 Substitute House Bill 7124 and 2017 Public Act 55. This includes -- but is not necessarily limited to – emails and text messages referencing the following words and phrases: “fertility preservation,” “fertility treatment,” “fertility mandate” “infertility,” “iatrogenic”, “cryopreservation,” “egg freezing”, “sperm freezing,” “HB 5968,” " HB5968," "HB 7124,” “HB7124,” “5968,” “7124,” “PA 17-55,” “Public Act 17-55,” “17-55,” and/or, “AN ACT REQUIRING HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE FOR FERTILITY PRESERVATION FOR INSUREDS DIAGNOSED WITH CANCER”. The specific emails and text messages I request are those from 1/1/17 to the present.

- All correspondence to or from employees of the Office of the Insurance Commissioner, including the Commissioner herself, and/or Deputy Insurance Commissioner, inclusive of the Deputy Commissioner, to or from email addresses from any of the following domain names: @cigna.com, @anthem.com or @connecticare.com. The specific emails and text messages I request are those from 1/1/17 to the present.

- All correspondence to or from employees of the Office of the Insurance Commissioner to or from the email addresses: shalpin@rc.com, jobrien@connecticutgroup.net, jwoulfe@connecticutgroup.net, jwoulfe@jobrien.net. Jim@jobrien.net, alpine288@aol.com, sjhalpin12@gmail.com, wovoka2@aol.com, Christine.cappiello@anthem.com. The specific emails and text messages I request are those from 1/1/17 to the present.

- All SMS Communications from both the personal and state-owned mobile devices of Katharine Wade and Eric Weinstein to and from the following numbers: 860.657.8998, 860.490.7607, 860.424.2287, and 860.748.6413.

I also kindly request that, if possible and pursuant to Conn. Gen. Stat. § 1-212(d), fees be waived as this request is in the public interest and certainly is not made for commercial gain. I am a citizen activist who dedicated significant time to pass a bill to help young adult cancer patients. This bill was not implemented properly, and my request is purely another attempt to get to the bottom of why this law has been ignored by regulators – and where in the process a loophole was communicated to carriers. Further, the requested records will contribute significantly to the public’s understanding of insurance regulatory policy, and how that policy is shaped.

If it is your position that any portion of the requested records is exempt from disclosure, I request that you provide it with a Vaughn Index/privilege log of those documents.

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. 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. If a request is denied in whole, please state specifically that it is not reasonable to segregate portions of the record for release.

Sincerely,

Melissa Thompson
Connecticut Constituent, Stamford

I also request that, if possible and pursuant to Conn. Gen. Stat. § 1-212(d), fees be waived as I believe this request is in the public interest and not made for commercial gain. The requested documents will be processed by a representative of the news media/press and made available to the public at MuckRock.com.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 4 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Melissa Thompson

Can someone please advise? This request has been outstanding for 20 days while the statute requires it be addressed within *four* days. Thank you. -Melissa

Mr. Caporale,

Thank you for the response. I indeed want communications related to what you stated in your response:

"Documents ... relating to 2017 House Bill 5968, 2017 Substitute House Bill 7124 and/or 2017 Public Act 55, or any matter connected with legislation about fertility preservation for insureds diagnosed with cancer."

Importantly though, I am looking for anything that resulted from that legislation and its implementation failure, which would include documents that reference "fertility" or "cryopreservation" (or the other keywords previously mentioned).

If it's easier for you to send more documents than may be needed, I am willing to sift through the volume to find what I am looking for as well.

Thank you,
Melissa Thompson

Tony,

Happy holidays to you as well. Do you have an estimate on timing?

I would like to review the materials so I can attempt to rectify the situation before the close of open enrollment. Originally, I wanted to address this while Commissioner Wade was still in office, but unfortunately that is no longer possible.

If you are able and willing to send partial results while working to completion, I would welcome the opportunity to get started.

I appreciate your attention to the matter.

Sincerely,
Melissa Thompson