Hartford Business Journal

4 Hartford Business Journal • August 20, 2018 • www.HartfordBusiness.com Week in Review Briefs After 10 years, Masonicare, St. Francis go separate ways on home care Citing shifting competitive interests, two prominent Greater Hartford homecare partners will shutter a joint venture they formed in 2007. Wallingford-based Masonicare disclosed in a state labor filing that it plans in November to cease operations of Masonicare Partners Home Health and Hospice, which it formed more than 10 years ago with St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center, with the latter holding a 35 percent stake. Since then, St. Francis has become the flagship of a new Connecticut healthcare system, Trinity Health Of New England, forging homecare links in other parts of Connecticut. Masonicare Partners and Trinity mutually agreed to dissolve the partnership because they now have competing interests, said Margaret Steeves, Masonicare's vice president of marketing and communications. Trinity's network includes its own homecare hospice business. Though its partnership with St. Francis is ending, Masonicare is still very much in the homecare business in Connecticut. The company expects to take on an undisclosed number of Masonicare Partners' patients, while Trinity is expected to take on others, Steeves said. Masonicare's other primary businesses include nursing homes, residential living communities and outpatient therapy. CT's empty Hartford office tower for sale The state is seeking buyers for its vacant, troubled Hartford office building overlooking the I-84 viaduct. The 15-story midtown tower on 2.39 acres at 25 Sigourney St., at the corner of Capitol Avenue, was built in 1984 as a private office building, with 467,000 gross square feet and an attached six- story parking garage. The state Department of Administrative Services, overseer of state assets, said the building has been declared "surplus'' and is being offered for the first time to bidders "as is.'' If it sells, proceeds will go to the state's General Fund, a DAS spokesman said. Until early 2017, the tower housed various state agencies, primarily the Department of Revenue Services, until they were consolidated into the state-owned 450 Columbus Blvd. twin towers, overlooking downtown Hartford's Constitution Plaza. Icahn abandons effort to kill Cigna's Express Scripts deal Carl Icahn has given up on his attempt to sabotage Cigna's takeover of Express Scripts. The activist investor had called on other Cigna shareholders to vote against the $67 billion deal, arguing the health insurer was massively overpaying for a "highly challenged" Express Scripts, which faces existential risks. But Icahn's push suffered heavy setbacks when influential shareholder advisory firms ISS and Glass Lewis both came out in favor the takeover. That eventually forced Icahn Capital to abandon its interference efforts. Cigna agreed in March to buy Express Scripts, one of the biggest U.S. pharmacy benefits managers, which administers drug plans for Americans with employer and government health insurance. It's holding a special meeting on Aug. 24 so shareholders can vote on the deal. But another potential threat looms. Sen. Charles Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has asked the Department of Justice to take a closer look at the mega deals sweeping through the healthcare industry, raising concerns that it could reduce competition and drive up drug prices. Hartford insurer Aetna is in process of its own major deal to be bought out by CVS Health Corp. CNNMoney TOP STORY Fall gubernatorial matchup set G reenwich businessman Ned Lamont easily captured the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, outpolling a former convicted felon, Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim, in every community except Ganim's hometown. On the other end of the political spectrum, Bob Stefanowski won the five-way Republican primary for governor after ignoring Connecticut's GOP establishment, opting out of the state's public-financing program and repeating one outlandish campaign promise like a daily affirmation: He will "rip costs" from state government and make its income tax disappear over eight years. The stage is now set for both men to square off in what is likely to be a hotly contested gubernatorial campaign this fall. They could also be joined by former MetroHartford Alliance CEO Oz Griebel, who is waiting to see if he's collected enough certified signatures to make it on the November ballot as an independent candidate. At stake is control of Connecticut's highest political office at a time when the state budget remains mired in red ink, economic growth is stagnant and the population is shrinking. Stefanowski, 56, a former CEO of a global payday loan company, is running on a promise to cut taxes and slash state government spending. His plan includes phasing out the state income tax. His running mate is Joe Markley, a conservative state senator who won nearly 50 percent of the vote in a three-way primary for lieutenant governor. Lamont pledged to support a $15 per hour minimum wage, pay equity, and investments in vocational-technical schools and community colleges to grow jobs and to bolster Connecticut's economy. His running mate is former Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz. HBJ/CT Mirror BY THE NUMBERS 857,000 The estimated number of Connecticut voters who were not registered with either major political party for the Aug. 14 primary election. $31,643 The average student loan debt of Connecticut's graduating college stu- dents last year, according to a recent analysis by LendEDU. $200M The total value of a proposed mixed- use development in Avon that would in- clude residential, office and retail space. $10M The value of a federal grant Con- necticut recently won, which will help the state support 2,000 people with substance abuse and mental health disorders. TOP 5 MOST READ On HartfordBusiness.com • 1. Following setback, $200M Windsor Locks project begins local approval process • 2. Foxwoods unveils two-story brewery • 3. CT's empty Hartford office tower for sale • 4. GOP nominates an outsider, Bob Stefanowski, for governor • 5. Seven Stars Cloud's 2Q net falls on increased overhead STAY CONNECTED For breaking and daily Greater Hartford business news go to www.HartfordBusiness.com HBJ on Twitter: @HartfordBiz HBJ on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HartfordBiz HBJ on Linkedln: www.linkedin.com/company/ the-Hartford-Business-Journal Daily e-newsletters: HBJ Today, CT Morning Blend www.HartfordBusiness.com/ subscribe Weekly e-newsletters: CT Health Care Weekly www.HartfordBusiness.com/ subscribe PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED Ned Lamont won a clear-cut victory over Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim in the Democratic primary.

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