Massachusetts
Mass. unveils $250 million in subsidies to protect residents from premium hikes – The Boston Globe
Audrey Morse Gasteier, executive director of the Massachusetts Health Connector, said the financial bulwark that benefited 270,000 residents is “part of the reason that we’re hanging in there in terms of enrollment and keeping people covered.”
But Thursday’s announcement won’t translate into any additional help.
Healey’s news conference coincided with the beginning of an election year in which three Republicans are vying for her job and voters are expected to be particularly focused on the state’s high cost of living. One survey last year found Massachusetts had the second highest cost of living in the country. People who saw their insurance premiums increase this year said it was one pricey bill amid an onslaught of growing expenses.
“I can’t believe how much it is when we go to the grocery store. Our electricity has gone up,“ said Judith O’Gara, whose family was hit with a $400 increase a month in insurance premiums for their ACA plan in January. ”We were just bracing ourselves to try to stretch the paycheck further.”
O’Gara, of Millis, is a part-time editor at community newspapers, and her husband is a self-employed computer animator and mural artist. She has added hours at work, she said, but it still wasn’t enough to qualify for health coverage through her employer, leaving the couple to buy insurance through the connector.
Healey also used the news conference to weigh in on a high-profile effort in Congress to revive the federal subsidies. Also on Thursday, the US House, with help from 17 Republican defectors facing competitive reelection races, passed a bill that would extend the subsidies for another three years. A small group of senators is considering proposing their own extension of the subsidies.
“We need to see people in Congress step up and take action and fight the president on this and get him to focus on the domestic agenda and how to make life more affordable for people,” Healey said.
The governor said she didn’t announce the influx of funds earlier because she had hoped Congress would act before the end of 2025.
“We gave up until the deadline to see if they take action,” she said.
ACA open enrollment extends through Jan. 23.
The infusion of funds from the Commonwealth Care Trust Fund brings the state’s total commitment to the insurance marketplace to $600 million, which Healey said is the largest support from any state in the country.
Federally subsidized insurance policies were first made available to people making less than 400 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $128,600 for a family of four, in 2009 under President Barack Obama’s ACA, also known as Obamacare. In 2021, Congress made those subsidies more generous for many recipients and extended them to people earning up to 500 percent of the federal poverty level. The expanded tax credits doubled participation in the ACA exchanges over the past four years, and by last year 337,000 people in Massachusetts received subsidized insurance through ConnectorCare.
The increases were slated to expire after four years, and without congressional action to preserve them, premiums reverted to pre-2021 levels for this year. People earning more than 400 percent of the poverty level became ineligible to receive subsidized insurance. State officials have estimated roughly 300,000 people could become uninsured statewide over the next decade, in part due to the expiration of the tax credits.
Democrats staged a 43-day shutdown last fall, the longest in US history, in an unsuccessful effort to preserve the expanded subsidies.
The Commonwealth Care Trust Fund predates the 2021 coverage expansion, said Doug Howgate, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a nonprofit budget watchdog, and was established to support ConnectorCare programs. Massachusetts has long had a robust public insurance program, and the 2021 expansion essentially allowed the state to shift the cost of subsidies it had been paying to the federal government. Tapping the trust fund now essentially returns Massachusetts to the support levels it provided prior to 2021, Howgate said.
Regardless of the timing of Healey’s announcement, it is a reality that Massachusetts has a uniquely robust commitment to health insurance access, Howgate said.
“I do think that the idea that the state is able to offset some of those impacts is an important message to get out there,” he said. “This is real money.”
According to Healey’s office, a 45-year-old couple with two kids making $75,000 in Fall River previously paid $166 per month for the lowest-cost coverage. Without state action, their premium would have more than doubled. But with the infusion from the trust fund, they will pay $206 per month.
There’s only so much the state can do to mitigate the impacts of the expired subsidies, though. Because Congress didn’t extend them, people between 400 and 500 percent of the federal poverty level simply are ineligible to sign up for subsidized policies through the ACA marketplace. There are roughly 27,000 people statewide who cannot benefit from the state’s effort to compensate for the lost federal money, and those people are among those facing the biggest new insurance expenses.
Christa, 56, a hair dresser, and her husband, Gary, 69, a truck driver, earn less than $105,750 annually combined, just shy of 500 percent of the poverty level. The couple, who asked not to be named to protect their privacy, went from paying $282-a-month for Christa’s insurance with no deductible, to a private plan costing $725 a month with a $2000 deductible.
Gary, who is enrolled in Medicare, is still counting on Congress for a reprieve.
“I believe the Senate will be forced to do something, and we’re hoping,” he said.
Jason Laughlin can be reached at jason.laughlin@globe.com. Follow him @jasmlaughlin.
As libraries across western Massachusetts celebrate National Library Week from April 19 to April 25, they are honoring “the last real third space where everyone is welcome,” in the words of Greenfield Public Library Assistant Director Lisa Prolman.
According to the American Library Association, National Library Week is “an annual celebration highlighting the valuable role libraries and library professionals play in transforming lives and strengthening our communities.” This year, several libraries in the region will be hosting events to highlight the roles they play in their communities.
The Athol Public Library is among the venues engaging in National Library Week festivities, with a whole host of events starting on Tuesday, April 21, with Silly Goose Story Time at 10:30 a.m. The library will hold multiple events each day, including “Free Book Friday” on April 24, which Assistant Director Robin Shtulman said is “really fantastic.”
Shtulman said the week celebrates and emphasizes the “freedom to read, community outreach and celebrating the staff, without whom nothing would happen.”
The Athol Public Library said in an event announcement that “whatever brings you joy, the library has something for everyone,” and that aspect is being emphasized this National Library Week. To name a few of the events on tap, on Tuesday, April 21, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., there’s a volunteer opportunity where teens will make greeting cards for senior citizens; “A Minecraft Movie” will be shown at the same date and time; and on Thursday, April 23, the library will host Scavenger Hunt Bingo for all ages. For a full list of events at the Athol Public Library, visit atholpubliclibrary.com.
In Shelburne Falls, the Arms Library will feature a gallery from the Carlos Heiligmann Collection, a series of photos of public libraries across western Massachusetts. Also in collaboration with the Arms Library, Pothole Pictures and the Shelburne Falls Area Women’s Club will partner for a screening of “Free For All: The Public Library” on Saturday, April 25, at 2 p.m. at the Shelburne Falls Theater at Memorial Hall.
The documentary focuses on the evolution of the public library from its origins in the 19th century and the challenges it faces today, with modern-day issues such as book bans, funding cuts and debates over censorship.
It also explores the role that women’s clubs, like the one in Shelburne Falls, played in creating the modern library system. To serve their communities, women’s clubs took the lead in fundraising, collecting books and advocating for library legislation.
“Our women’s club in this town started with a group of 60 women who were gathering for lessons. … Because of the support of women in the U.S., we established over 80% of the public libraries [in the country],” said Christin Couture, program chair for the Shelburne Falls Area Women’s Club. “This film … I hear it’s so fascinating.”
Following the film’s screening, there will be a panel of local librarians who will engage in “lively conversation” about the history and future of public libraries. Tickets are $6, though school-age children will be admitted for free.
In Charlemont, Tyler Memorial Library will host an open house on Saturday, April 25, from noon to 2 p.m. featuring refreshments, a tour of the library and sun catcher crafting.
The Greenfield Public Library, meanwhile, is taking National Library Week in a bit of a different direction, as it is offering a book repair demonstration with Tom Hutcheson on Thursday, April 23, at 3:30 p.m. The day marks William Shakespeare’s birthday.
Although the book repair session required registration and is currently full, those who are interested may be placed on a waiting list at greenfieldpl.libcal.com/event/16460179.
Greenfield Public Library Director Anna Bognolo recognized the hard work that everyone has put into making the library a success, offering a “huge thank you” to the volunteers and staff who make its varied offerings possible.
“Stop by and support your library,” Bognolo said.
“Libraries, especially in this economy, are more important than ever,” Prolman said. Referencing the library’s role as a place where community members can go that is not work or home, she added, “They are the last real third space where everyone is welcome, and we don’t charge you for being here.”
Massachusetts
New Bedford MS-13 Member, Illegal Alien Pleads Guilty to Role in Brutal Murders In Massachusetts, Virginia
Frankli
Police shot and killed a man who officials say rushed officers with a knife during a call in Lexington, Massachusetts, on Saturday.
Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan said the situation started around 1:40 p.m. when Lexington police received a 911 call from a resident of Mason Street reporting that his son had injured himself with a knife.
Officers from the Lexington Police Department and officers from the Northeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council (NEMLEC), who were already in town for Patriots’ Day events, responded to the call.
Police were able to escort two other residents out of the home, initially leaving a 26-year-old man inside. According to Ryan, while officers were setting up outside, the man ran out of the home and approached officers with a large kitchen knife.
She added that police tried twice to use non-lethal force, but it was not effective in stopping him. The man was shot by a Wilmington police officer who is a member of NEMLEC. The man was pronounced dead on scene and the officer who fired that shot was taken to a local hospital as a precaution.
The man’s name has not been released.
Ryan said typically in a call like this where someone was described as harming themselves, officers would first try to separate anyone else to keep them out of danger, which was done, and then standard practice would be to try to wait outside.
“It would be their practice to just wait for the person to come out. In the terrible circumstances of today, he suddenly rushed the officers, still clutching the knife,” Ryan said.
The investigation is still in the preliminary stages and more information is expected in time. Ryan said her office will request a formal inquest from the court to review whether any criminal conduct has occurred, which is the standard process.
This happened around the same time as the annual Patriots’ Day Parade, and just hours after a reenactment of the Battle of Lexington, which drew large crowds to town.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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