CAB continues closed meetings to make decisions
Yesterday’s SIM Consumer Advisory Board (CAB) meeting to choose consumer representatives to SIM committees was again held in secret. An FOI complaint is pending over their lack of transparency. This time applicants were notified that their applications were being reviewed but less than 24 hours before the meeting. One applicant requested, as allowed under state law, to open the meeting and CAB complied by opening the meeting for discussion only of his application. Several speakers gave glowing reviews to his qualifications. The public was then asked to leave again while the CAB made their decision. The public re-entered the room and the CAB voted on a slate of recommended candidates, that did not include the member who received strong endorsements in the only public discussion. Despite the very strong quality of the applicant pool, two consumer representatives appointed to SIM committees include a representative of UConn, which is receiving large grants from SIM, and a person with only experience consulting for the insurance and hospital industries.