Published: Thursday, May 10, 2012 at 6:01 a.m. Last Modified: Thursday, May 10, 2012 at 12:47 a.m.

Health care in Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes could be improved with $50 million in grant money included in the BP oil spill settlement.

The settlement, which includes grants for five years of services, includes millions to launch a Primary Care Capacity Project aimed at expanding and improving access to health care in coastal communities after the BP oil spill. The project is expected to begin this summer.

The Primary Care project will be led by the Louisiana Public Health Institute and the Alliance Institute, both New Orleans-based nonprofits, and will focus on improving health care in Terrebonne, Lafourche, Cameron, Plaquemines, St. Bernard and Jefferson parishes, and New Orleans.

This is work that (Louisiana Public Health Institute) has done for years in Louisiana and is founded upon the notion that many communities across these states don't have sufficient capacity for primary care. These coastal communities, because of their location, are vulnerable to natural phenomenon and industrial risks like the oil spill, said project leader Eric Baumgartner.

Improving environmental health expertise is of great importance to many local residents who fear that diseases linked to oil and chemical exposure have gone undetected since the spill.

Environmental health is a field that looks at the effect of disasters, chemical exposures and other events on human health.

Susan Felio Price, co-owner of the Price Brothers Shipyard in Chauvin, said her husband became ill at the family's drydock after cleaning boats that were still contaminated with oil from the spill.

It started with a rash but soon he was vomiting every day for months, she said. He's been hospitalized three times and is still doing poorly.

It's so hard, she said. I've been advocating and fighting for people and then something like this happens to my husband.

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BP settlement includes money for health care

After weeks of debate over whether the Prevention and Public Health Fund, created by President Obamas health care law, affects womens health, Republicans are airing additional complaints about the pool of money and how states and communities have used the fund to support a string of questionable initiatives.

The future of the fund, which got $1 billion this year and is slated to get $1.25 billion in 2013, has been a hot topic on Capitol Hill, where congressional Republicans want to kill it and use the money to pay for an extension of student-loan interest-rate subsidies, while Democrats have vowed to defend it as a key part of Mr. Obamas health care legacy.

In fact, Mr. Obama has vowed to veto House Republicans student-loan bill because it eliminates the prevention fund, claiming that Republicans are trying to force Democrats to choose between backing students and supporting womens health.

Last week, he told high school students in Northern Virginia that Republicans are only going to prevent the student loans from doubling if they can cut things like preventative health care for women instead.

The argument that slashing the prevention fund would hurt womens health has been widely debunked over the past week, but Republicans are honing in on the money stream for other reasons as well.

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and Rep. Darrell E. Issa of California, the top Republicans on the Senate and House oversight committees, are questioning whether the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is using some of the funds properly. They said the healthy living money is being used to pay for campaigns to change state laws, which could violate federal rules against using taxpayer dollars for lobbying.

While I strongly support the wellness and prevention mission of the CDC, Miss Collins said last week, I also support the safeguards Congress has put in place on the use of federal funds to protect against the misuse of tax dollars. Every dollar spent on inappropriate or illegal activities is a dollar that didnt go toward saving lives and improving health.

Rep. Cliff Stearns, Florida Republican, who chairs the House Energy and Commerce oversight subcommittee, during a hearing Wednesday questioned the funds spending to promote recreational destinations, intergenerational urban gardening and community bike-sharing programs around the country.

Money from one of the funds anti-obesity campaigns, Mr. Stearns said, was provided to Kauai, Hawaii, to develop remote school drop-off sites to encourage students and staff to walk farther distances to school entrances.

Perhaps [the Health and Human Services Department] is telling Congress that we should eliminate mass transit as part of our war against obesity, he said. Incredibly, this same program also funded free pet spaying and neutering. While a laudable goal, the Department of Health and Human Services should focus its limited resources on human health.

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Health care law's prevention money called 'slush fund'

SPRINGFIELD State retirees may have to begin paying a portion of their health insurance premi-ums under a plan approved by the Illinois House Wednesday.

The proposal, which is one piece of Gov. Pat Quinns controversial overhaul of state employee benefits, affects as many as 114,000 former state workers, their dependents and survivors.

The measure, which advanced to the Senate for further debate on a 74-43 vote, is designed to chip away at the nearly $800 million cost to provide retirees with free health insurance premiums. It would affect former state employees, including lawmakers, judges and university workers.

It would give the Quinn administration the power to set how much retirees would pay toward their premiums. The plan could allow former employees earning less in retirement to pay lower rates than their more well-heeled pensioners.

The health insurance issue is just one piece of an overhaul of state finances that could include scaling back employee pensions, cutting Medicaid costs and closing state facilities.

House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, urged lawmakers to vote yes, suggesting that it will be just the first of many hard votes in the coming weeks.

If we cant do this, what in the world are we going to be able to do? Madigan asked.

State Reps. Dan Brady of Bloomington and Mike Bost of Murphysboro, both of whom represent thousands of former state and university workers, said they were conflicted about the proposal, but ended up voting in favor of it.

Folks realize were up against a wall, Bost said.

Members voting no included state Reps. Adam Brown of Decatur, Bill Mitchell of Forsyth, Rich Morthland of Cordova, Brandon Phelps of Harrisburg, David Reis of Willow Hill, Chapin Rose of Mahomet, Keith Sommer of Morton and Pat Verschoore of Milan.

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State House targets health care costs

BETHESDA, Md., May 10, 2012 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Now is an important time to be involved in improving health care. Demanding times require inspired leadership, innovative solutions, and enduring partnerships to bring about change. With ever-increasing economic challenges and the ongoing threat of budget cuts facing health care organizations, now is the time to invest in cost-saving, patient- and family-centered strategies that will produce measurable outcomes for your hospital, health system, or organization.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120510/CG04922)

The 5th International Conference on Patient- and Family-Centered Care: Partnerships for Quality and Safety, June 4-6, 2012, in Washington, DC, offers more than 100 timely, cutting-edge sessions addressing a variety of topics to help you develop important initiatives to improve your organization's bottom line and yield positive outcomes for safety, quality, and patient satisfaction. The conference will highlight partnerships with patients and families at all levels of health care.

A sampling of a few sessions that support a patient- and family-centered business model of care include:

Influencing Change and Improving Quality with Patient and Family Advisors

Thunder Bay Regional Health Science Centre's culture changed because of patient- and family-advisors, and they will share how you can change your culture, too.

Patient- and Family-Centered Care: From the Boardroom to the Bedside

Additionally, Thunder Bay Regional Health Science Centre representatives will discuss howpatient- and family-centered care became their blueprint for system-wide change and why their Patient- and Family-Centered Care Corporate Strategy Development proved to be just the right model.

The Family Voice: Involving Families in the Drive to Improve the Transition from Outpatient to Inpatient Care

Learn how Johns Hopkins created a multidisciplinary team, including parents, to improve the transition between outpatient chronic care and inpatient acute care for cystic fibrosis patients.

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Strategies for Patient- and Family-Centered Business Models

Health-care bills were expected to rise more slowly after the passage of Obama's health-care program, according to Fidelity's projection last year. Now, costs are rising again.

Couples retiring this year can expect their medical bills throughout retirement to cost 4 percent more than those who retired a year ago, according to an annual projection released Wednesday by Fidelity Investments.

The estimated $240,000 that a newly retired couple will need to coverhealthcareexpenses reflects the typical pattern of projected annual increases. The Boston-based company cut the estimate for the first time last year, citing President Barack Obama'shealthcareoverhaul. Medicare changes resulting from that plan are expected to gradually reduce many seniors' out-of-pocket expenses for prescription drugs.

But Fidelity says overallhealthcarecost trends are on the rise again, so it's raising its cost estimate from last year's $230,000 figure.

"As long ashealthcarecost trends exceed personal income growth and economic growth,healthcarewill still be a growing burden for the country as a whole and for individuals," says Sunit Patel, a senior vice president forbenefitsconsulting at Fidelity, and an actuary who helped calculate the estimate.

However, this year's 4 percent rise is relatively modest. Annual increases have averaged 6 percent since Fidelity made its initial $160,000 calculation in 2002.

The projections are part of Fidelity'sbenefitsconsulting business. The study is based on projections for a 65-year-old couple retiring this year with Medicare coverage. The estimate factors in the federal program's premiums, co-payments and deductibles, as well as out-of-pocket prescription costs. The study assumes the couple does not have insurance from their former employers, and a life expectancy of 85 for women and 82 for men. The estimate doesn't factor in most dental services, or long-termcare, such as the cost of living in a nursing home.

This year's estimate could change significantly. Next month, the U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether to strike down part or all of the 2010healthcarelaw, including its centerpiece requirement that nearly all Americans carry insurance or pay a penalty.

If the ruling requires significant changes, Fidelity may update its estimate, Patel said.

Although its focus is expandinghealthcareaccess to people under age 65, the law also is intended tobenefitmany retirees by gradually closing what's known as the 'doughnut hole' coverage gap in the Medicare drugbenefit.

Continued here:

Health-care costs per retired couple: $240,000

By Mitch Hotts For The Voice

Checarol Robinson, 41, of New Baltimore, had hoped the court would waive a condition of her bond, which restricts her travel to southeast Michigan until the criminal case is resolved.

Isnt one of the conditions of the bond that you will not leave the country? Im not going to interfere with this, said U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Mona Majzoub at an arraignment hearing at the federal courthouse in Detroit.

Defense attorney James Lawrence acknowledged the travel restrictions as part of the conditions that allowed his client to remain free on a $10,000 unsecured bond pending trial.

Before she was indicted earlier this year she made plans to celebrate her first wedding anniversary with her husband in Aruba, Lawrence said in court.

The judge declined to overrule the bond condition but did agree to allow pre-trial services officials to review the matter and possibly come back with a waiver.

Robinson is one of 22 people named in a federal grand jury indictment on Medicare fraud charges that was unsealed last week by the U.S. Attorneys Office.

She faces charges of health care fraud and conspiracy to commit health care fraud for her alleged role in a $20 million scheme to defraud Medicare by submitting phony claims for psychotherapy services.

According to the indictment, Robinson was director of P&C Adult Day Care Center on Van Dyke in Detroit and took part in the scheme since 2006 along with Lousia Thompson, who owned several adult foster care facilities in Detroit. The indictment alleges the two submitted fraudulent claims to Medicare for services that were not performed or not needed. They would then pocket the payments, the indictment states.

Also Tuesday, Sachin Sharma and his wife, Dana, both of Shelby Township, were formally arraigned on similar but unrelated health care fraud charges in federal court. Continued...

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New Baltimore woman indicted on fraud charge can't leave country

By Mitch Hotts of Journal Register News Service

Twenty-two people in southeastern Michigan, including one Ypsilanti resident,were charged Wednesday in a health care fraud scam that took in more than $58 million in false Medicare billings from foster homes and home health care services, according to federal authorities and unsealed court documents.

The defendantsinclude owners and operators of companies, social workers, office employees and patient recruiters who are accused of submitting phony claims for services that were never rendered or not needed, officials said at a news conference in Detroit. Forty-five-year-old Ypsilanti resident Badar Ahmadani was one of those named in the indictment.

The schemes are vast and broad and cover a large geographic swath, said Barbara McQuade, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan.

Federal law enforcers on Wednesday morning served search warrants at nine locations including Madison Heights and Shelby Township and seized 14 bank accounts as they arrested 17 suspects. Three others are fugitives and two have made arrangements to surrender.

According to an unsealed grand jury indictment, the defendants allegedly paid patient recruiters to obtain identification information from health care beneficiaries and used the information to bill Medicare and then pocket payments that were paid out.

Among those named in the indictment in a $23 million scam are Sachin Sharma, 36, and Dana Sharma, 29, of Shelby Township. The two owned Reliance Home Care, LLC on Dequindre in Madison Heights, and Sachin Sharma is also listed as owner of First Choice Home Health Care Services on Dequindre in Madison Heights, along with Associates in Home Care on Mound Road in Sterling Heights and Haven Adult Day Care Center in Detroit.

Court documents allege Sachin Sharma and two other defendants would pay kickbacks and bribes to recruiters for information on Medicare beneficiaries that would be used to bill Medicare for home health care, infusion therapy or psychotherapy services that were either not provided or not medically necessary.

Investigators said the recruiters would receive up to $200 for each beneficiary they provided. The recruiters searched homeless shelters and soup kitchens to find people with Medicare cards and obtain their information which was used for fake billings. In some cases, the recruiters would offer narcotic painkillers as a bribe to the people holding the cards.

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YPSILANTI: Health care fraud scam took in more than $58 million in false Medicare billings; one resident named in ...

WASHINGTON Having trouble finding a doctor?

You're not alone.

Tens of millions of adults under age 65 both those with insurance and those without saw their access to health care worsen dramatically over the past decade, according to a study abstract released Monday.

The findings suggest that more privately insured Americans are delaying treatment because of rising out-of-pocket costs, while safety-net programs for the poor and uninsured are failing to keep up with demand for care, say Urban Institute researchers who wrote the report.

Overall, the study published in the journal Health Affairs found that one in five American adults under 65 had an "unmet medical need" because of costs in 2010, compared with one in eight in 2000. They also had a harder time accessing dental care, according to the analysis based on data from annual federal surveys of adults.

"For decades, Americans have been facing costs rising well above wage levels," said Lynn Quincy, senior policy analyst for Consumers Union, a nonpartisan group. "These are real families. ... It's very concerning."

The 2010 health care law, which will expand health coverage to 30 million people starting in 2014, won't necessarily solve all those access problems, the study said. That's because the law, which is under review by the Supreme Court, may not alter the trend toward private insurance policies with larger deductibles and higher co-payments or address some of the barriers within public coverage. While the law does increase payments temporarily to primary care doctors who see people covered by Medicaid, it will not force more doctors into the program, or require states to provide dental coverage to adults.

Quincy noted that the law does offer several new strategies, such as new payment methods to control rising costs, which could help improve access, but there's no guarantee they will work.

The study underscores what's at stake in the law's coverage expansion: People with private or public health insurance have significantly better access to care than the uninsured. If the law is overturned or scaled back, "we would be likely to see further deterioration in access to care for all adults uninsured and insured alike," it concludes.

The percent of adults with private insurance who reported an "unmet medical need" doubled to 10 percent from 2000 to 2010, while those who delayed seeking care because of cost rose from 4 percent to 7 percent in the same period, according to the study.

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Access to health care in U.S. worsens, study finds

Editor's Note: Peter Ricchiuti teaches courses in finance and investments at Tulane University's Freeman School of Business. He blogs monthly about regional stocks for Forbes.com. This is his most recent post:

When people are confused about an industry, it often creates an opportunity for investors, and there's no industry people are more confused about right now than health care.

People were bewildered by the potential impact of the Affordable Care Act even before the recent Supreme Court arguments. Now, with a Supreme Court reversal of Obamacare a real possibility, people don't want to touch health care stocks with a ten-foot pole.

While Obamacare may or may not be dead, reports of the death of the health care sector are, to paraphrase Mark Twain, grossly exaggerated.

To begin with, the fundamentals of the health care industry are simply phenomenal. In January, the oldest Baby Boomers turned 66, representing the first wave of 78 million prospective health care consumers. With or without the individual mandate, these consumers represent a tidal wave of business for health care companies for many years to come.

In addition to bright long-term prospects for the industry, many of the biggest health care companies are in fantastic financial shape. For example, Johnson & Johnson has $12 billion in cash; and Humana has $5 billion in their corporate coffers.

Why aren't investors buying up health care stocks? In short, I think it comes down to uncertainty. Investors are unsure about which way health care reform will go, and if there's one thing the market hates, it's uncertainty. Regardless of how the Supreme Court ultimately decides, I think once a decision comes down -- any decision -- investors will feel more comfortable and return to health care stocks with enthusiasm.

Here at Burkenroad Reports, the student equities research program I manage at Tulane University, there are a couple of health care stocks we cover that I think are worth taking a look at. While it's difficult to speculate on what effect a Supreme Court ruling might have on either, both may be good values now and can only benefit from the clarity a decision will bring.

The first is Cyberonics Inc., a Houston-based company that makes a medical device for the treatment of epilepsy. The tiny device, implanted in the shoulder of patients, delivers a pulse of electricity to the brain, and it's been found to be remarkably effective for the treatment of refractory epilepsy. Patients need to exhaust other treatment methods first, but when they do, the device is fully covered by insurance. Cyberonics is profitable based solely on its current U.S. business, so as the company continues to expand its international presence, I think earnings will improve.

Another upside for Cyberonics is in an entirely different line of business: depression. Research has shown that the device also produces positive results for patients with treatment-resistant forms of depression. The FDA approved the device for the treatment of depression in 2005, but when it comes to medical devices and treatments, the question isn't just, "Does it work?" It's, "Will insurance pay for it?"

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Investing in health care stocks is still a good bet

OTTAWA, May 6, 2012 /CNW/ - Dr. John Haggie, President of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA), today expressed his hope that the Ontario government would return to discussions with the province's doctors and continue the work already begun to transform the health care system to make it patient centred.

"Ontario's doctors have put forward several ideas around improving efficiency and boosting quality of health care services to patients," added Dr. Haggie. "They have much more to offer and now is no time for the government to turn its back on the role physicians can play in advancing the cause of improving care for their patients."

Over the course of the past year, Dr. Haggie has reached out to governments at all levels, urging them to pursue a principled-based approach to transforming the health care system so that it puts patients first. The Ontario health minister has also cited the need for health care transformation, going back as far as 2010, when she lauded proposals made for transformation put forward by Canada's doctors and shared them with counterparts at a meeting of federal, provincial and territorial health ministers.

"Every player in the health care system must be engaged in bringing about the transformational changes so desperately needed," said Dr. Haggie. "Seeking to impose change and taking a dictatorial approach is not the answer because engagement and buy-in is critical to creating a high-performing health care system."

Dr. Haggie added that Ontario's doctors have worked with government to identify solutions that would both save money and provide higher quality care to Ontario residents.

"We know that the Ontario government has championed the need for transforming health care so that it puts patients first," said Dr. Haggie. "It's baffling that the Ontario government would now ignore the opportunity to collaborate with physicians on finding efficient ways to provide high-quality health care."

The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) is the national voice of Canadian physicians. Founded in 1867, CMA's mission is to serve and unite the physicians of Canada and be the national advocate, in partnership with the people of Canada, for the highest standards of health and health care. The CMA is a voluntary professional organization representing over 77,000 of Canada's physicians and comprising 12 provincial and territorial medical associations and 51 national medical organizations.

For more information: Lucie Boileau Media Relations Manager Telephone: 613-731-8610 / 800-663-7336 ext. 1266 Cell.: 613-447-0866 lucie.boileau@cma.ca

For a copy of Dr. Haggie's speech at the OMA contact Lucie Boileau at:lucie.boileau@cma.ca

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Transforming Health Care About Improving Patient Health Not Cutting Costs

MELVILLE, N.Y., May 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Henry Schein, Inc., (HSIC), the largest provider of health care products and services to office-based dental, medical and animal health practitioners, announced today that Steven Paladino, Henry Schein's Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, will present at the Deutsche Bank 37th Annual Health Care conference on May 9, 2012. The conference is being held at the InterContinental Boston.

Henry Schein's presentation is scheduled to begin at 10:40 a.m. EDT and can be heard via live webcast by visiting http://www.henryschein.com, clicking on "Investor Relations" and following the link for "Webcasts." A replay will be available on the Web site following the presentation.

About Henry Schein, Inc. Henry Schein, Inc. (HSIC) is the world's largest provider of health care products and services to office-based dental, medical and animal health practitioners. The Company also serves dental laboratories, government and institutional health care clinics, and other alternate care sites. A FORTUNE 500 Company and a member of the NASDAQ 100 Index, Henry Schein employs nearly 15,000 Team Schein Members and serves approximately 775,000 customers.

The Company offers a comprehensive selection of products and services, including value-added solutions for operating efficient practices and delivering high-quality care. Henry Schein operates through a centralized and automated distribution network, with a selection of more than 90,000 national and Henry Schein private-brand products in stock, as well as more than 100,000 additional products available as special-order items. The Company also offers its customers exclusive, innovative technology solutions, including practice management software and e-commerce solutions, as well as a broad range of financial services.

Headquartered in Melville, N.Y., Henry Schein has operations or affiliates in 25 countries. The Company's sales reached a record $8.5 billion in 2011, and have grown at a compound annual rate of 18% since Henry Schein became a public company in 1995. For more information, visit the Henry Schein Web site at http://www.henryschein.com.

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Henry Schein To Present At The Deutsche Bank 37th Annual Health Care Conference

By Ben Sutherly

The Columbus Dispatch Monday May 7, 2012 5:23 AM

Dr. Michael Grever, chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine at Ohio State University, gives a tour of the cancer research laboratories on the eighth floor of the Biomedical Research Tower at OSU.

Ohios health-care sector increasingly sees medical research as a way to help heal not only patients but the states economy.

To that end, economic-development officials and researchers say deriving more tangible results from the hundreds of millions of health-research dollars that flow through the states academic centers and hospitals is essential.

This is a very important economic driver for the state, said Mitch Horowitz, vice president and managing director of Columbus-based Battelles Technology Partnership Practice. The state already has 37,000 nonclinical jobs in health-care manufacturing, research and distribution, but the industry is not as fully specialized as it is in other states, leaving room for more potential high-paying jobs, Horowitz said.

In 2011, more than $710 million in federal funding from the National Institutes of Health flowed to Ohio. The state ranked 10th in the nation last year in NIH funding, a closely watched metric in academic, business and political circles.In 2008, $678 million in NIH funding came into Ohio.

Dr. Charles Lockwood, dean of Ohio State Universitys College of Medicine, called those federal dollars fresh money that have a multiplier effect as they circulate in the local economy. He said Ohio States Wexner Medical Center and Nationwide Childrens Hospital together pump more than $300 million annually into the central Ohio economy as a result of NIH funding alone.

The state must do a better job of commercializing the academic research funded by those and other dollars, officials and academic leaders said.

Little of that (money) is leveraged well, said Tony Dennis, president and CEO of BioOhio, a nonprofit that promotes bioscience industries.

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Health research: Cure for economy?

The Republicans who control the House are using cuts to food aid, health care and social services like Meals on Wheels to protect the Pentagon from a wave of budget cuts come January.

Link:

GOP plan boosts Pentagon, cuts social programs

Under Governor Deval Patrick, Massachusetts has tried a couple of methods for limiting the government’s exposure to rising health-care costs. First, Patrick forced insurers to stop raising premiums, which led to a predictable train wreck, as insurers started hemorrhaging cash. When a state appeals board overturned Patrick’s decree, he shifted gears, and began going after the prices charged by ...

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Massachusetts Moves Toward Health-Care Price Controls. Is America Next?

Under Governor Deval Patrick, Massachusetts has tried a couple of methods for limiting the government's exposure to rising health-care costs. First, Patrick forced insurers to stop raising premiums, which led to a predictable train wreck, as insurers started hemorrhaging cash. When a state appeals board overturned Patrick's decree, he shifted gears, and began going after the prices charged by ...

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Massachusetts Institutes Health-Care Price Controls. Is America Next?

Health-care costs are a top retirement fear, and thats even though many older workers vastly underestimate how much theyll have to pay.

Americans even those who have diligently saved for their golden years are not prepared for the reality of health-care costs in retirement and dont really understand how Medicare works, says John Carter, president of Nationwide Financial Distributors.

Nearly half of affluent Americans, who have at least $250,000 in household assets, say they are scared that rising health-care costs will deplete their retirement savings, according to a Harris Poll released today by Nationwide Financial.

And 43 percent of the affluent older workers dont know how much they will spend for health care in retirement, the survey says.

The pre-retirees who expect health care to be their biggest retirement expense estimated that their average annual health care cost will total $5,621. But that is a drastic underestimate. Citing a 2011 Fidelity study, Nationwide says out-of-pocket health care expenses will average as much as $10,750 a year.

One big reason is that pre-retirees often wrongly assume that Medicare covers the cost of long-term care, Carter says. That is a wake-up call that Americans need good financial advice to prepare for their future health care costs, he says.

There are a lot of things that are not covered by Medicare, such as most eye care, dental and hearing, says Henry Bud Hebeler, a former Boeing executive who developed the retirement planning website analyzenow.com. Ive had to have two pairs of hearing aids so far, and they cost me over $5,000 each time, says Hebeler, 78.

People also dont realize that Medicare will be financed partly by premiums deducted from Social Security checks, Hebeler says. Depending on a retired couples income, their annual Medicare cost could be over $9,000 a year, he says.

Last month, a government trustee report said that Medicare will be exhausted by 2024 and Social Security by 2033. That reality is forcing many workers to plan to work longer. This year, 57 percent of workers who have $50,000 to $250,000 in household assets plan to push back their retirement, citing health care costs as their top financial concern, up from 36 percent in 2011, says Bank of Americas Merrill Edge report.

Nobody gives workers a clue about the rising cost of health care, Hebeler says. Its incredible how many have no idea whats coming at them.

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Health-care costs worry near-retirees

04-05-2012 13:23 Director of the National Economic Council, Gene Sperling, talks about his first job, the lessons he learned and how they still apply to his work today. Go find your job at

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My First Job: Gene Sperling - Video

04-05-2012 14:45 President Obama discusses the importance of a college education and steps his Administration is taking to help keep the cost of college within reach for all families. May 4, 2012.

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President Obama Speaks on College Affordability - Video

04-05-2012 16:37 The President honors the 2012 NCAA Men's Basketball champion Kentucky Wildcats in a ceremony in the East Room of the White House. May 4, 2012.

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President Obama Welcomes the Kentucky Wildcats - Video

Update at 2:40 p.m.: House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Rep. Steven Walsh have introduced their legislation the Health Care Quality Improvement and Cost Reduction Act of 2012 and CommonHealth has the details, including a 12-point recap of the bills main provisions.

Update at 7 p.m.: In All Things Considered, WBURs Deborah Becker reported on the parameters of the legislation, and WBURs Curt Nickisch reported on industry reaction to a so-called luxury tax on pricey hospitals.

Original post:

The latest effort to reform health care in Massachusetts what WBURs Martha Bebinger yesterday dubbed Chapter Two takes center stage on Beacon Hill today.

During an afternoon news conference, House leaders will unveil their long-awaited legislation to rein in rising health care costs in the state.

As our Newscast unit reported earlier, discussions among legislators and advocates have centered on proposals to do away with the industrys traditional fee-for-service spending model, and instead move toward a system in which providers are given a budget (so-called global payments) for the overall care of each patient.

As Martha reported yesterday in her preview feature:

The House and Senate are expected to build on movements that are already under way: global payments, electronic health records and the increased focus on primary care.

The Senate plans to unveil its version of the legislation next week. Senate President Therese Murray has said she expects the final bill to pass the Legislature by July 1.

The latest health care moves on Beacon Hill come more than a year after Gov. Deval Patrick outlined a bill to give state government more authority over controlling health spending, and more than six years after Chapter One Massachusetts landmark universal coverage law.

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Mass. House Will Unveil Bill Seeking To Rein In Health Costs