Rep. Jake Auchincloss

At a Boston Tech Week panel hosted by VIA in Somerville, I 'reverse-pitched' entrepreneurs in the audience on building maritime robotics companies in Massachusetts. The Bay State has all the elements to support a global hub for this growing industry:

- talented robotics + autonomy workforce
- cluster of contractors for the nuclear submarine fleet & other Naval assets
- deep maritime legacy, including Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution & the New Bedford Port

Over the next decade, both the public & private sectors in the United States are going to be deploying uncrewed systems into the sea to sense, surveil, sustain, swarm and/or strike. From Ireland's submarine cables to the South China Sea, our allies will need them, too. Southeastern New England will be competing against emerging clusters in Texas/Louisiana and San Diego to host the defining start-ups. The prize is jobs & economic development.

UMass Memorial Health - Milford Regional Medical Center’s leadership welcomed me for a discussion & tour. We reviewed their integration into UMass Memorial Health, changes to hospital pharmacy pricing through the 340B program, and opportunities in the upcoming Medicaid 1115 waiver negotiation.

I am particularly interested in how UMass Memorial is approaching hospital-at-home innovation, which could ultimately help lower costs & improve patient experience. It’s early days for both the technology and the policy, but Massachusetts should be at the forefront of both, and I’m impressed that UMass Memorial is experimenting. I’ve previously argued that the 1115 waiver is a chance to fund and scale these & similar efforts, and I’ll continue to stay engaged with state partners and federal Medicaid officials on the 1115 negotiations.