Update: 3:50 p.m. Mallory Deason, communications director for the Agency for Health Care Administration, released the following statement in regards to the Politico Florida story.
“This morning, Politico Florida published an article that claimed that AHCA has not been forthcoming regarding a public records request they filed. The article claimed that our office has not been responsive when, in fact, AHCA communication’s staff has been in constant contact with Politico regarding this request, including several updates via telephone last week.
“Since August, of the 10 requests for public records that Politico has made of AHCA, seven have been fulfilled, while three are currently being processed and reviewed to ensure they contain no confidential information. Our Agency takes our duty to operate transparently very seriously, and we will continue to fully fulfill public records requests in a timely manner.”
Gov. Rick Scott’s commission on hospital finances and health care price transparency has ignored public record requests designed to shine light on the appointed commission, Politico reports.
The commission, which meets today in Tampa, has not replied to repeated requests from Politico for emails between top staff at the Agency for Health Care Administration and hospitals, HMOs and insurance companies, according to a story by Politico reporter Christine Sexton.
The request targets emails related to appearances before the commission, which was created earlier this year by Scott.
The latest meeting of the commission will focus on price transparency. According to the Governor’s Office, those expected to speak at the meeting at the University of South Florida include:
· Tammy Perdue, general counsel, Associated Industries of Florida
· Andrea Caballero, program director, Catalyst for Payment Reform
· Denise Love and Jo Porter, co-chairs, All Payer Claims Database (APCD) Council
