Commissioner’s conflict of interest question remains issue

HARTFORD >> Whether Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Katharine Wade should have recused herself from overseeing the proposed merger of Anthem Inc. and Bloomfieldbased Cigna will remain an issue facing state officials, despite a new federal lawsuit aimed at derailing the coupling of the two insurance giants.

The Citizens Ethics Advisory Board decided Thursday to proceed with issuing a declaratory ruling on whether Wade, a former registered lobbyist and government relations executive for Cigna, should have been permitted under the state’s code of ethics to regulate the industry and preside over the state’s review of the Anthem-Cigna merger. The ruling was requested by the government reform group Common Cause of Connecticut, which questioned whether Wade could be unbiased — an accusation Wade has denied.

Besides the board’s anticipated ruling by Sept. 30, state lawmakers will likely be asked to consider legislation to change the ethics rules governing public officials and possibly address appearances of conflicts of interests, something the board currently does not oversee.

“Once the declaratory ruling is issued, the board will likely have some directives,” said Carol Carson, executive director of the Office of State Ethics, adding how the board annually considers legislative proposals and submits them to the General Assembly. “It won’t surprise me, though we’re not there yet, to see something about appearances in this year’s ethics legislative proposals.”

Common Cause also plans to press for law changes. The legislature convenes in January.