Confidential Information

Confidential material is defined as any information and/or documentation that may be exempt from public disclosure under Connecticut's Freedom of Information Act pursuant to Conn. Gen. Statute § 1-210(b).

Examples of information that may be considered confidential:

• Records that are exempt from disclosure by other federal or state law

• Records pertaining to strategy and negotiations with respect to pending claims or pending litigation

• Trade secrets including formulas, patterns, compilations, programs, devices, methods, techniques, processes, drawings, cost data, customer lists, or detailed production budgets

• Commercial or financial information provided in confidence and not required by statute

• The contents of real estate appraisals, engineering or feasibility estimates and evaluations

• Statements of personal worth or personal financial data

• Records, tax returns, reports and statements exempted by federal law or the general statutes or communications privileged by the attorney-client relationship, doctor-patient relationship, therapist-patient relationship or any other privilege established by the common law or the general statutes

• All records obtained during the course of inspection, investigation, examination and audit activities relating to the Medicare and Medicaid programs

Scope of Protection

Ensure your request is narrowly tailored by identifying the specific information to be protected. For example – a single page within a larger document or a single section of a specific page.

Motion to Seal

Prepare a Motion to Seal requesting an exemption from public disclosure for the specific material believed to qualify as confidential material. The motion must include:

• specific legal arguments with reference to applicable state or federal law and facts supporting why the information should be sealed

• a certified affidavit signed by an appropriate individual

Submit the Motion to Seal

For CON matters: Submit the motion electronically in the Certificate of Need (CON) portal in the docket related to the motion. You must also submit a copy of the motion via email to OHS.Confidential@ct.gov.

For non-CON matters: Send the motion directly to OHS.Confidential@ct.gov.

Additional requirement for CON matters: If only a portion or portions of the material submitted constitute confidential information, you MUST submit a redacted version of the material into the CON Portal when you submit the motion.

Submit the Information

Submit the information identified in your motion electronically by email to OHS.Confidential@ct.gov. The subject line must include CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL – NOT FOR PUBLIC DISCLOSURE. The body of your email must include the CON docket number (if any), the name of the person or entity filing the request, the number of pages included and a brief description of the contents of the submission.

Include a cover sheet with the information identified in your motion including the CON docket number (if any), the name of the person or entity filing the request, the number of pages included and a brief description of the contents. This cover sheet should not reveal confidential information as it could be made public.

EACH page of your submission must also be marked as CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL – NOT FOR PUBLIC DISCLOSURE in an easy to find location such as a header or footer.