Support WBUR
Boston's Morning Newsletter
Mitt Romney returns to Massachusetts to mark the 20th anniversary of landmark health reform law
Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from WBUR's daily morning newsletter, WBUR Today. If you like what you read and want it in your inbox, sign up here.
It may just be plain ol' Monday to you — but in western Massachusetts, it's "413 Day." Click here for things to do in the fabulous 413 from our day trips guide.
But first, let's start with the news of the day in Boston:
Look who’s back in town: Mitt Romney is back in Massachusetts today to mark the 20th anniversary of "Romneycare," the state law that paved the way for the Affordable Care Act. He's joining several other former Massachusetts governors — Michael Dukakis, Bill Weld and Deval Patrick — as well as the state's current leader, Gov. Maura Healey, for a panel conversation about the “Health Care Reform Act” this morning at Boston's Faneuil Hall — the place where Romney signed the legislation into law 20 years ago. (Technically, the anniversary was on Sunday). The law made insurance mandatory for most individuals, fined some employers who didn’t provide it and created subsidized health plans for low- to moderate-income residents. The panel today will also be moderated by WBUR's own Martha Bebinger.
- The law's legacy: As Martha reports in this story, roughly 10% of Massachusetts’ population — or more than 530,000 people — did not have health insurance back in 2006. Now, that percentage is down to 3%. Studies also credit the law for reducing preventable hospital visits and leading to 320 fewer deaths a year. However, critics says the law largely punted on changes that would curb health care spending. As WBUR’s Priyanka Dayal McCluskey recently wrote for our health newsletter, the state regularly blows past its cost containment goals.
- Looking ahead: WBUR Morning Edition host Tiziana Dearing spoke to Harvard professor John McDonough and Massachusetts Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Kiame Mahaniah about the federal pressures in 2006 that prompted leaders to act on health care — and new pressures today. “It's a tough health care world out there for virtually all the players,” Mahaniah said. “We need to figure out a system by which it's more affordable for the individual premium payer, but also … stabilize the system so that our healthcare system feels confident and feels comfortable moving forward.” Listen to the full conversation here.
Rules with a bite: New rules for food delivery companies like DoorDash, GrubHub and UberEats took effect this weekend. As WBUR's Andrea Perdomo-Hernandez reports, as of Saturday, companies that annually make more than 1 million food deliveries nationwide are required to obtain a permit from the city and provide insurance to their drivers — or face fines of $300 per day per restaurant or per order. "We're the first city to do it," City Councilor Sharon Durkan told Andrea.
- Why? The ordinance was passed last year in response to concerns about the combination of double-parked delivery drivers and moped and scooter drivers not following traffic laws creating a "chaotic, unsafe feeling" on Boston's streets. According to the city, 311 complaints about delivery vehicles jumped 200% since 2022. The new law also requires companies to share data with the city about delivery locations and driver routes, so leadership can better understand how third-party delivery is affecting traffic on the streets. "We're going to have data from these third-party delivery companies, and then I think we can chart a path forward on how we actually deal with these impacts," Durkan said.
Off the bench: Roopa Patel — a Boston immigration judge who ruled against the Trump administration's push to deport Turkish-born Tufts University student Rümeysa Öztürk back in February — was reportedly fired on Friday. The New York Times reports that Patel was dismissed alongside another immigration judge, Nina Froes, who presided over the similarly high-profile case of Columbia University student activist Mohsen Mahdawi. The firings come amid the Trump administration's aggressive effort to reshape immigration courts (which are part of the Justice Department).
- Zoom out: NPR reports that the number of immigration judges in the U.S. has shrunk by about a quarter over the last year due to firings and resignations.
Contingency planning: Anna Maria College, a small Catholic college in central Massachusetts, is at risk of closing. In a notice Friday, state officials said the Paxton school may not have enough money to operate through the next academic year.
- The warning comes after recent years of declining enrollment at Anna Maria, according to The Boston Globe. Now, the state is requiring the college to come up with a contingency plan so that the school's roughly 1,000 students can "continue their education with minimal disruption" should it close.
P.S. — Visitors are set to pour into Massachusetts for the World Cup this summer, and we want to know: What's a quintessential Massachusetts thing tourists coming to our state should experience before leaving? Share your ideas with us in this form.
