When the Arkansas insurance commissioner weighed the merits of a hospital's billing complaint against United Healthcare, her interactions with one of the nation's largest health insurers extended far beyond her department's hearing room.
During months of deliberations, Commissioner Julie Benafield Bowman met repeatedly with United Healthcare lawyers and lobbyists over lunch and drinks at venues such as the Country Club of Little Rock.
"I had a blast with you Monday night," Benafield emailed United Healthcare lawyer Bill Woodyard, himself a former state insurance commissioner. "Thank you so much for entertaining us."
Benafield ultimately decided the case in United Healthcare's favor – a 2008 ruling that stood to save the company millions of dollars. Nearly two years later, by the time a judge vacated the commissioner's orders because there was "an appearance of impropriety in the proceedings," Benafield had moved on: She was working for United Healthcare, having joined at least three of her predecessors representing insurers in Arkansas....
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