After 14 years, the costs have become unsustainable and the plan will cease to operate on June 30, according to Verna Kendall, outreach coordinator for the partnership's New Bedford office.

"The fishing partnership health plan is subsidized by the state of Massachusetts for fishermen and fishing-related workers. It is now going to end," Kendall said.

"The membership aged out and the average now is 51 years old. As people age and have more medical problems, the rates keep going higher and higher," he said.

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