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Professional Firefighters of N.H. v. Healthtrust Inc.
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Professional Firefighters of N.H. v. Healthtrust Inc. was a case before the New Hampshire Supreme Court in 2004 concerning the applicability of open records laws to nonprofits.
Important precedents
This case established that private entities which serve a clearly governmental function are considered public bodies under the New Hampshire Right to Know Law.[1]
Background
- Healthtrust Inc. is a private nonprofit incorporated by over 300 governmental entities to provide health insurance benefits for public employees. The member entities make contributions to Healthtrusts general fund in exchange for health coverage for their employees. It is governed by a board composed of 17 individuals appointed by the member entities.
- Professional Firefighters of N.H. (PFFNH) is a state organization of firefighters. It requested documents from Healthtrust relating to Healthtrusts contract with Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield.
- Healthtrust denied the request, claiming that it was not a public body under the New Hampshire Right to Know Law.
- The trial court ruled in favor of PFFNH and Healthtrust appealed the decision.[1]
Ruling of the court
The trial court ruled in favor of PFFNH, determining that Healthtrust was in fact a public body, and that the documents in question were not exempt. The court first established, citing Union Leader Corporation v. NH Housing Finance Authority, that they must consider various factors including funding, appearance and function and then must construe the statute in favor of disclosure. The court then established that:
- Healthtrust is composed of only public bodies.
- Healthtrust is governed by those public bodies.
- Healthtrust provides a governmental service in that it provides health insurance to public employees.
- Healthtrust was founded with the sole purpose of providing this service.
- Healthtrust receives and dispenses public funds.
While the court considered these 5 factors, the essential factor which allowed the court to decide that Healthtrust was in fact a public body subject to the New Hampshire Right to Know Law was that it performed an essential governmental function. The court went on to reject Healthtrust's contention that its disclosure requirements under the New Hampshire Department of State took the place of its requirements under the right to know law. The court then went on to remand the remainder of the decision to the trial court for an in camera inspection to determine if the documents in question were exempt under the law as either trade secrets or under the attorney-client privilege. Finally, the Supreme Court reversed the decision of the trial court and removed the awards for attorney fees because, it determined that Healthtrust did not reasonably know that it was in violation of the right to know law.[1]
Associated cases
See also
External links
Footnotes
