John Grace v. Division of Insurance (SPR 20170202)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords February 27, 2017 SPR17/202 Mindy A. Merow Rubin, Esq. Records Access Officer Massachusetts Division of Insurance 1000 Washington Street, Suite 810 Boston, MA 02118 Dear Attorney Rubin: I have received the petition of John Grace appealing the response of Massachusetts Division of Insurance (Division) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1O A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Grace requested to review records regarding a rate increase request from Genworth Life Insurance Company and the reasons presented for it. Previous appeals This request was the subject of previous appeals. See SPR16/1213 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (December 29, 2016); SPRl 7/053 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (January 23, 2017). I closed SPRl 7/053 with the proviso that the Division provide a supplemental response to Mr. Grace. The Division provided this response on February 8, 2017. Mr. Grace's appealed this response and SPRl 7/202 was opened. The Division's February s'h response In the Division's February 8th response you contend that the requested records may be withheld from disclosure pursuant to Exemption (d ) of the Public Records Law. You also explain that "[t]he Division is actively involved in litigation with Genworth over its requests for rate increases on long-term care insurance products." You state that "[o ]n January 9, 2017, Genworth filed a lawsuit against the Commissioner of Insurance, making its long-term care insurance rate filings the subject of a dispute in active litigation in Suffolk Superior Court." See Genworth Life Ins. Co. v. Daniel R. Judson, Comm'r oflnsurance, Civil Action No. 1784CV00073. Whereas the public records in question are the subject of a dispute in active litigation, I decline to opine on this matter. See 950 CMR 32.08(2)(b). One Ashburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 • (617) 727-2832• Fax: (617) 727-5914 sec.state.ma.us/pre• pre@sec.state.ma.us

Mindy A. Merow Rubin, Esq. SPR17/202 Page 2 February 27, 2017 Sincerely, ~~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: John Grace