The Connecticut Office of State Ethics will vote on Thursday whether to investigate if state Insurance Commissioner Katharine Wade infringed conflict-of-interest laws while reviewing a merger between Bloomfield, Conn.-based Cigna and Anthem, the International Business Times reported.
The ethics office's decision to consider a petition to investigate the situation comes on the heels of Gov. Dannel Malloy's signing of a bill to withhold all merger information from the public. This occurred the same day Gov. Malloy rejected an open records request made by grassroots groups, who previously urged the governor to oust Mrs. Wade on grounds of her previous affiliation with Cigna and familial ties with Cigna employees.
Gov. Malloy's office said if the ethics office decides conflict-of-interest regulations were breached, it will amend the situation.
With yesterday's announcement emerged new details about emails between Mrs. Wade's agency and insurance regulators in other states about the merger, eight in total since last September, according to IBT.
"We have always said, consistently, that if the ethics commission identified a problem, then we would undoubtedly follow their guidance. So far, that has not been the case," Gov. Malloy's spokesperson Chris McClure told IBT.
On Thursday the ethics office will announce if a formal review is warranted.