PORTLAND — A  judge on Tuesday will hear arguments for and against postponing an upcoming public hearing on a new health insurance plan proposed by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield.

Central Maine Healthcare would like the public hearing postponed. Officials for the Lewiston-based health-care organization say the public hasn’t been able to learn enough about the proposal and there isn’t enough time for them to do so by the June 28 hearing.

The Maine Bureau of Insurance and Anthem want the hearing to go on as scheduled. They say some information about the plan is being released, interested parties have time to learn about it and the approval process should not be prolonged because the bureau must complete its review of health insurance exchange plans by July 31.

Justice Andrew M. Horton is scheduled to hear oral arguments Tuesday afternoon. Although the CMHC suit was filed in Kennebec County and the two sides met with the judge at the Cumberland County Courthouse in Portland on Wednesday, next week’s arguments are scheduled to be heard in the Lincoln County Courthouse in Wiscasset because Horton will be there for a trial.

At issue is a proposal by Anthem, the state’s largest health insurer, to partner with MaineHealth, the state’s largest health-care organization, to offer new individual and small-group insurance plans for the upcoming health insurance exchange. Thousands of Mainers could be eligible to receive federal subsidies to pay for the insurance.

Anthem submitted its proposal to the Maine Bureau of Insurance in May and asked the bureau to keep much of its application and proposed insurance plan confidential.

Bureau spokesman Doug Dunbar has said requests for confidentiality are not unusual and the bureau has a standard, formal process to determine whether documents should be secret or public. He said that process has been ongoing in this situation and the bureau is still reviewing whether Anthem’s documents should be released or kept secret.

The bureau has released some documents, including, on Tuesday, the list of doctors and hospitals that patients would be allowed to use under Anthem’s plan. Central Maine Medical Center, Rumford Hospital and Bridgton Hospital — all part of CMHC — were not on the list.

CMHC officials say the state hasn’t released information about Anthem’s insurance proposal fast enough and hasn’t released enough of it. They say the public hasn’t had the information it’s needed to support or oppose Anthem’s proposal in time to meet the bureau’s tight deadlines.

They point out that the bureau gave interested parties only four business days to file as intervenors, and some public notices about that deadline weren’t published until well after the deadline had passed.

CMHC, on behalf of Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, area doctors and patients, filed suit in Kennebec County Superior Court late last week against Eric Cioppa, superintendent of the Bureau of Insurance, and the Maine Department of Professional and Financial Regulation. It’s asking the court to open the Anthem documents made confidential, give the public more time to comment on the proposal and postpone the bureau’s June 28 public hearing on the insurance plan.

If the new insurance plan is approved, some current Anthem customers could be moved to the new plan.  

ltice@sunjournal.com

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