Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • December 4, 2017 • Hartford Business Journal 5 Anthem-Hartford HealthCare dispute spurs loud call for legislation Connecticut state officials heard a renewed call last week for legislative action to avoid another disruption in health care like the one caused by the contract standoff between Hartford HealthCare and Anthem that lasted seven weeks starting Oct. 1. The legislature's Insurance and Real Estate Committee had scheduled a hearing before the two sides came to an agreement on Nov. 18, but decided to go forward with it despite the settlement. Some of the proposals discussed included mandated mediation and arbitration, as well as requiring hospital-by-hospital negotiations rather than one health-network-wide contract. For those seven weeks, all services provided by Hartford HealthCare were out-of-network for Anthem policyholders. Lawmakers and healthcare advocates were flooded with phone calls and emails, including from residents with scheduled surgeries, pregnant women worried about their prenatal care and those with chronic conditions. — Mackenzie Rigg | CT Mirror UTC nabs Airbus exec to oversee technology, research center Farmington manufacturer United Technologies Corp. says it has hired rival Airbus' top technology officer Paul Eremenko to head its technology team. Eremenko, who is chief technology officer at Airbus, will join UTC as its senior vice president and chief technology officer on Jan. 1. He will lead the company's research, engineering and development activities for both aerospace and building systems, and oversee the United Technologies Research Center, said UTC CEO Greg Hayes. Eremenko succeeds J. Michael McQuade, who will retire next year, but remain with UTC through early 2018. Eremenko reportedly left Google to work at Airbus in 2015, but clashed with Airbus' chief engineer Charles Champion, who is about to retire, according to Reuters. CT, tribes sue feds to break deadlock on third casino Backed by the administration of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribal nations filed a lawsuit Nov. 29 to force Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to approve their gaming agreements with Connecticut and clear the way for them to jointly develop a commercial casino in East Windsor. The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., comes one month after the tribes and the state's congressional delegation failed to move the Department of the Interior off its puzzling stance of neither rejecting nor approving amendments to the tribes' gaming compacts. The refusal to give a clear answer was a victory for MGM Resorts International, which has lobbied for two years in Hartford and Washington, D.C., to block the East Windsor casino and protect the market for an MGM casino scheduled to open next year in nearby Springfield. — Mark Pazniokas | CT Mirror Bond Commission OKs $40M for XL Center The state Bond Commission has approved $40 million in funding for improvements to the XL Center in Hartford, which will also help prepare the aging arena for a potential sale. The funding was included in the bipartisan state budget that passed in October, but it didn't make it through the bond commission unanimously. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who chairs the commission, and Rep. Christopher Davis (R-Ellington), sparred for several minutes about the borrowing, which Davis said comes amid cuts to Medicare, mental health and other programs and when the state is already staring down a potential deficit in the budget that passed in October. Malloy noted that Davis had voted for that budget, which included the $40 million for the XL Center. "So in other words, you were for it before you were against it," Malloy said. The state budget instructs the Capital Region Development Authority to solicit bids for the XL Center, which is owned by the city of Hartford. Mayor Luke Bronin said recently that he is skeptical how much interest the venue will draw. The $40 million can be used for renovations and capital improvements, including the acquisition of nearby real estate. CRDA has been in conversations to acquire the Hartford 21 retail complex that surrounds the arena, where the atrium, retail space and some parking is located. That retail space is owned by Northland Investment Corp. Distinguish Yourself. grad.business.uconn.edu Graduate Business Programs MBA PROGRAMS Full-time • Part-time • Executive SPECIALIZED MASTERS Accounting (Online) Business Analytics & Project Management Financial Risk Management Human Resource Management XL Center will likely be put up for sale in 2018. PHOTO | HBJ FILE

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