Brewer v. Middletown: Township Will Comply and Release Benefits Records

According to this weeks Independent, Middletown has decided to comply with Judge Lawson's ruling in the case of Brewer v. Middletown and release the names of all those who receive health benefits from the township.

Interestingly enough, Middletown's attorney Brian Nelson is somehow blaming Middletown Democrats and former Township Committee Candidate Linda Baum for the township's need to release names of those covered under its self-insured medical plan.  Also Lee Brewer, the man that filed the suit to release the names of those cover will be seeking to recover his legal expenses from the township that are associated from the case. Brian Nelson seems the think that the Township doesn't need to comply with the request however.

Here is what the Independent has to say:

Middletown Township will comply with a court order and release the names of current and former employees who received medical benefits through the township dating back to 2008, according to Township Attorney Brian Nelson.

Nelson confirmed on Monday that Middletown will not appeal an order from state Superior Court Judge Lawrence Lawson mandating that the names be provided to township resident Lee Brewer, who requested a comprehensive list of township benefits records in July.

According to court records, Brewer’s request was part of a quest to seek out “potential fraud” in the township’s health care enrollment system.


While the township provided Brewer with much of the information he requested, the names of the enrollees were redacted. Township officials said divulging that information could allow specific claims information for employees to be made public, which would violate the privacy laws mandated by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Because Middletown is self-insured, the township is a “covered entity” under HIPAA and subject to significant fines and penalties for any violations, Nelson said.

“We have given out — I can’t even count how many — dozens of documents over a period of years in relation to the township’s health benefits plan,” he said on Jan. 23. “The names have been redacted to protect those individuals and their private health information.”

Nelson said other township residents, specifically former Democratic Township Committee candidate Linda Baum, have requested and been provided with a significant amount of benefits records in recent years, only with the enrollee names redacted.

Releasing the names now could allow members of the public to piece those records together and determine claims information for specific employees, he said.

Walter Luers, the attorney who filed the suit on behalf of Brewer, said the township is simply trying to justify blocking the records, and that there is no danger of claims data being made public.

“It’s just something that they are throwing out there,” Luers said on Jan. 24. “If Middletown has released claims data that they shouldn’t have released, they should be making some sort of effort to correct it, to get it back somehow. But they’re not.”

He said the township had verbally argued about the claims data in court, but didn’t reference it in any official briefings.

“It’s like me saying the sky is purple,” Luers added. “Just saying it doesn’t make it true.” In his decision, Lawson wrote that Middletown “failed to identify any concrete example of a past disclosure which could, in conjunction with the present request, bring about such a harm.”

The township had also argued against a state “common law” right of access precedent, which found that certain insurance records must be publicly accessible.

Middletown argued that the federal “privacy rule” under HIPAA and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) trumps state law. Lawson, however, ruled that the township failed to identify just which HIPAA and ERISA regulations prevented the release of the employee names.

While disagreeing with Lawson’s decision, Nelson said the township would now comply with Brewer’s records request. Because the township is only releasing the names under a court order, it should be protected from any potential litigation that arises as a result of the disclosure, he added.

“The township believes that — given that there is a judge’s order — it will be protected from any type of [legal] claims,” he said.

The records would have to be released within 20 days of Lawson’s final order, but Nelson said they would likely be provided sooner.

On Jan. 24, Luers said Brewer may also seek to recoup his legal expenses from the township, to the tune of approximately $5,000.

Nelson said Brewer would not be entitled to such a reimbursement because the records in question are not protected under the state’s Open Public Records Act.

“We will fight that, and we will win that,” he said.

Middletown’s health insurance program has been a subject of scrutiny for years, as Democrats have accused the all-Republican Township Committee of intentionally obscuring the identities of its beneficiaries.