Daily Archives: March 4, 2011

This Is My Last WBUR Byline

Published March 4, 2011

This is it, friends, my last WBUR byline. I know it’s a surprise. I have some exciting new opportunities ahead, opportunities I can’t talk about just yet. You know how it is.

I moved across the country for this job two-and-a-half years ago. I knew no one here and nothing about Boston. WBUR gave me a lot of room to play. The bosses put me in charge of a new blog about Boston, and I had to learn a lot about Boston. I have come to really love this city.

I have also come to love you, the readers and listeners and Twitterers I have gotten to know here as the resident social media guy. Thanks for making this so much fun.

Surely you’ve noticed the inconsistency on this blog for the last few weeks; I have been busy with the transition. Don’t worry, Hubbub is here to stay. In fact, we’re about to redesign and relaunch the blog to include more voices, more news. I think you’ll love it.

Be well, and please be in touch. You can still talk to me on Twitter @andrewphelps or follow my personal website, andrewphelps.com. Cheers!

Harvard Pilgrim, Tufts Health Call Off Merger

Published March 4, 2011

Well, that was fast. Harvard Pilgrim Health Plan and Tufts Health Plan say they are no longer planning to merge. The Boston Globe reports:

The two companies, which have been conducting merger talks for a month, “have now determined that we are stronger as individual competitors than one company,” Eric Schultz, president of Harvard Pilgrim, said in a joint statement from the two insurers.

WBUR reports:

The insurers, which combined would have served about 2 million customers, were thought to want to merge to better compete with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, the state’s largest health insurer with about 3 million members.

The news of merger talks broke Jan. 25. Harvard and Tufts are the state’s second and third largest health care plans, respectively.

Via CommonHealth, which has full text of the press releases.