The Boston Globe - 13.09.2019

B10 Business The Boston Globe FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019

helped reduce costs for lower-
income Americans, causing
premiums for many to soar.
The insurance market in
Massachusetts has been less
turbulent than in other states.
The US Census Bureau this
week said that 2.8 percent of
Massachusetts residents were
uninsured in 2018, steady
from the previous year, and
the lowest rate of any state.
Nationally, however, the
number of people without in-
surance grew to 8.5 percent in
2018 from 7.9 percent a year
earlier.
Massachusetts has a uni-
versal health care law that
predates the Affordable Care
Act, and both the state and
federal law have broad bipar-
tisan support here.
Not all states have fully im-
plemented the ACA (also
known as Obamacare), and
the Trump administration has
sought to weaken it.
More than 291,000 people
are enrolled in medical cover-
age on the Massachusetts ex-
change, the highest number
in the agency’s history.
But Connector officials
said they remain concerned
that federal policy changes
could disrupt enrollment, in-
cluding the effects of what’s
known as the “public charge”
rule, which could dissuade
noncitizens from enrolling in
coverage, even if they are eli-
gible for it.
Connector board member
Nancy Turnbull, senior associ-
ate dean at Harvard T.H.
Chan School of Public Health,
said the agency also must
closely watch how the pro-
posed merger of two of Massa-
chusetts’ biggest health insur-

uCONNECTOR
Continued from Page B

ers — Tufts Health Plan and

Harvard Pilgrim Health Care

— affects coverage for individ-

uals.

“We’ve been assured...

that it will not be disruptive in

2020,” Gutierrez said. “As to

2021 going forward, it’s too

early for us to speculate.”

Tufts and Harvard Pilgrim

have yet to detail their plans

to the public or to govern-

ment regulators.

In the slice of the state in-

surance market that includes

both individuals and small

businesses, premiums will

rise an average of 5.1 percent

in January 2020, according to

the state Division of Insur-

ance. That’s more than the 4.

percent premium hike seen at

the beginning of this year.

Lora M. Pellegrini, presi-

dent of the Massachusetts As-

sociation of Health Plans, a

trade group for insurers,

blamed hospital and drug

prices for the increase in in-

surance costs.

“Health insurance premi-

ums reflect the costs of these

services along with govern-

ment-imposed assessments

and federal risk adjustment

requirements,” she said in a

statement.

The enrollment period for

2020 coverage on the Connec-

tor begins Nov. 1.

As in past years, Connector

officials plan to spend $1.

million on advertising and

outreach, and another $1.

million on “navigator” organi-

zations to help individuals

sign up for coverage.

Priyanka Dayal McCluskey

can be reached at

[email protected]

om. Follow her on Twitter

@priyanka_dayal.

Healthinsurance

premiumssetto

rise4%in

ment. But Welltower executives

have told town officials they

plan senior facilities for part of

the campus, said Bernard

Greene, chairman of

Brookline’s Board of Selectmen.

Welltower has offered to sell

the other part — a parking lot

and classroom building on the

west side of Fisher Avenue — to

the town, Greene said.

Brookline has hired architects

to study its potential re-use as

either a school or administra-

tive or recreational facilities for

the town, Greene said, and will

negotiate a price once the archi-

tects have a plan. A community

meeting is scheduled for later

this month.

Either way, Greene said,

town officials were glad the

campus wound up in the hands

of an established company.

“I think it’s a great outcome,”

Greene said. “They’re a first-

class buyer. The management

we’ve met with seem like

straight shooters and serious.

They’re people we can work

uNEWBURY

Continued from Page B

with.”

And the deal effectively clos-

es the books on Newbury, a

small liberal arts school that

served a largely low-income

population of some 600 stu-

dents, many of whom were the

first in their families to attend

college.

In recent years, tuition had

risen to about $34,000, and en-

rollment had fallen by approxi-

mately one-quarter in the last

five years. In December, the

school said it would close at the

end of the 2018-2019 school

year.

Proceeds from the sale —

which was reviewed by Attor-

ney General Maura Healey’s of-

fice — will more than cover

Newbury’s existing debt. Finan-

cial statements from 2017 indi-

cate the school owed $5.1 mil-

lion in outstanding bonds and

$2.3 million on a line of credit

with its bank.

The proceeds will also fund

a severance package for faculty

and staff, Newbury vice presi-

dent and chief of staff Paul Mar-

tin said in a statement, though

details were not available. The

school’s remaining assets, Mar-

tin said, “will be distributed to

another Massachusetts college

or university” in a process that

will also need Healey’s review.

Many of Newbury’s students

have transferred to other local

schools. More than 100 gradu-

ated in May in a final com-

mencement ceremony. The

school is still working with a

handful who plan to finish their

degrees this December, Martin

said.

Tim Logan can be reached at

[email protected]. Follow

him on Twitter at

@bytimlogan.

Newburycampusissoldfor$34m

us to hang around for Brock-

ton,” Bluhm said.

He declined to comment af-

ter the decision.

A spokesman, Joe Baerlein,

said later that the company will

wait to see what the commis-

sion does next and hopes it

moves quickly to give the proj-

ect another chance. He said the

company did not know there

would be a final vote on the

project’s request Thursday.

In 2016, the commission re-

jected the Brockton project, cit-

ing concerns about its design

and the proximity of a prospec-

tive Taunton casino, less than

20 miles away.

At the time, the Mashpee

had just broken ground on their

tribal casino, which would not

require state approval. But

since then, the tribe has been

dealt a series of legal and regu-

uCASINO

Continued from Page B

latory setbacks, putting the

plan on indefinite hold.

Massachusetts legalized ca-

sino gambling in 2011, allow-

ing full-service casinos in the

eastern part of the state, in

Western Massachusetts, and in

the southeast.

The Mashpee’s quest has be-

come an issue in Washington,

where the tribe is lobbying for

support. Senator Elizabeth

Warren and US Representative

William Keating, who support

legislation that would secure

the tribe’s land as a reservation,

have been at odds with Presi-

dent Trump and some Rhode

Island congressional represen-

tatives, who oppose it. A mea-

sure has cleared the House but

faces a difficult road to final

passage.

Rhode Island has casinos in

Lincoln and Tiverton that

would compete directly with a

tribal project. Proponents of a

Brockton casino say the project

would help keep more gam-

bling revenue in Massachu-

setts.

But recent data suggested

that the gambling market in

New England may not be as lu-

crative as once hoped. Casinos

in Massachusetts, Rhode Is-

land, and Connecticut have

been reporting disappointing

revenue figures.

The state’s first resort casi-

no, MGM Springfield, has been

behind projections. Early fig-

ures for Encore Boston Harbor,

which opened in June, also

showed revenues on pace to fall

short of expectations, although

the latest numbers set to be re-

leased next week may tell a dif-

ferent story.

Further complicating mat-

ters are several other proposals

to expand gambling in South-

eastern Massachusetts, includ-

ing some that would require

legislative changes.

Public officials in Plainville

have called for adding table

games to the Plainridge Park

slots casino. A developer is

pitching a plan for a horse rac-

ing and entertainment complex

that would include slot ma-

chines in Wareham. And lead-

ers of the Aquinnah Wampano-

ag Tribe are wrangling with of-

ficials in the Martha’s Vineyard

town over plans to open an

electronic bingo hall there.

Andy Rosen can be reached at

[email protected].

Brocktoncasinoplanisstillano-go

MASSACHUSETTS GAMING COMMISSION

Preliminary renderings submitted to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission show a revised plan for a Brockton casino.

JONATHAN WIGGS/GLOBE STAFF

The Brockton Fairgrounds are the proposed site for a Southeastern Massachusetts casino.

JOHN BLANDING/GLOBE STAFF/FILE 2016

Neil Bluhm of Mass Gaming and Entertainment said

restarting the license bidding could mean years of delay.

‘Ithinkit’sagreat

outcome...

They’reafirst-

classbuyer.’

BERNARD GREENE,

chairman, Brookline selectmen

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