Debate over disclosure heats up in Conn. Medicaid case

Clinical information may still be confidential, but what you think is competitive business information might be public property. In Connecticut, four managed care organizations are fighting--so far unsuccessfully--to keep details of their state Medicaid contracts out of the realm of the Freedom of Information Act. Healthcare advocates want to get the organizations' preferred drug lists, after Medicaid recipients said they were going home from pharmacies empty-handed because of the companies' drug policies. The judge has to decide whether the MCOs are performing a "government function."

- here's an article [1] from the Hartford Courant

PLUS: In North Carolina, a newspaper is suing to get details of the purchase of a physician group by a public hospital. One court said yes, but the hospital is appealing the decision. Article [2]