5 days ago
State's lawyer claims HealthTrust misrepresented itself in court deposition
On the eve of a critical House vote about the future of risk pool groups that manage insurance plans for units of government, lawyers for Secretary of State David Scanlan argued the head of HealthTrust, the state's largest pool, had lied or misled during a recent court deposition.
Scanlan's lawyer accuses HealthTrust of giving misleading deposition
A lawyer representing Secretary of State David Scanlan (pictured) hass accused the chief executive of HealthTrust of misrepresenting the group's legal authority during a recent court deposition.
Richard Gagliuso of the BernsteinShur firm accused HealthTrust Executive Director Scott DeRoche of misrepresenting the makeup of his organization.
'We continue to be troubled by your client's dissemination of statements that appear to be knowingly, if not intentionally, misleading with respect to the nature of the coverage offered by HealthTrust and the ultimate responsibility of the political subdivision members for the liabilities of the program,' Gagliuso wrote to lawyers for HealthTrust.
In that deposition, DeRoche said HealthTrust is a 'self-insurer' that provides 'fully insured' coverage to member towns, cities, school districts and other governmental bodies.
'HealthTrust is not offering such coverage by 'obtaining insurance' from an insurance carrier. Your argument further begs the question of where such coverage is 'provided by law,'' Gagliuso responded.
'To the contrary, HealthTrust apparently contends that it is self-insuring for fully insured health coverage.'
Scanlan's legal team maintains HealthTrust and all the risk pools are self-insured plans under RSA 5-B, the 2010 state law that put them under regulatory control of the secretary of state's office.
The House of Representatives on Thursday will vote on amended legislation (SB 297) that would allow HealthTrust and the three other risk pool groups to decide if they would rather come under the supervision of the Insurance Department.
HealthTrust executives came out in support of the legislation.
'We view the amendment as ensuring a viable and valuable risk pool environment for the benefit of New Hampshire's political subdivisions and taxpayers,' the group said in a statement.
Scanlan strongly opposes the change and supports the original measure from Senate President Sharon Carson, R-Londonderry, to give his office more sweeping powers over the finances of these groups.
In pursuing the original legislation, Scanlan charged that HealthTrust and a second risk pool had been close to insolvent because they failed to raise rates so they wouldn't lose any business.
HealthTrust officials insisted those statements were untrue.
The other risk pool Scanlan named, the New Hampshire Interlocal Trust, voted to leave the market, and a judge named a receiver to take over its finances.
HealthTrust's board has threatened that it would dissolve the organization if Scanlan's proposal became law.
'Accordingly, we call upon your client once again to cease and desist from making false statements about the nature of the coverage offered to New Hampshire political subdivisions through HealthTrust's pooled risk management program and to withdraw or correct such statements as may circulating in the public,' Gagliuso added.
In a statement, DeRoche insisted that he hasn't misrepresented the group's mission.
'HealthTrust has served the public sector of New Hampshire for four decades. Over this time, we have offered the same model of coverage, which provides for fixed health coverage costs during a plan year. This model provides the predictability that public sector employers, employees, and taxpayers rely upon,' DeRoche said.
Last month, HealthTrust's lawyer defended DeRoche's statements in a separate court filing.
The deposition arose after the city of Rochester filed for information under the state's Right-to-Know Law about HealthTrust's specific claims data as it considered whether it wished to self-insure on its own.
HealthTrust denied the request, saying to reveal this information would compromise its competitive position in the risk pool marketplace.
Last week, the Senate Finance Committee voted to tack into its proposed trailer bill to the state budget (HB 2) a requirement that risk pools and insurers provide 'deidentified' information about such claims.
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