Cost of Health Care Focus of October 1 Conference

Business and health care provider community to examine what can be done to
moderate Maine's cost of care

SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine, July 22 /PRNewswire/ -- The high and rising cost of
health care in Maine and what can be done about it will be the focus of a
statewide conference on Wednesday, October 1 sponsored by Anthem Blue Cross
and Blue Shield and the Maine Health Management Coalition. "Health Care
Costs: Maine's Burning Platform -- Can We Extinguish the Fire?" will examine
strategies to moderate Maine's cost of care.
The conference will feature keynote speeches by two national experts on
health care costs: Dr. Arnie Milstein, Medical Director, Pacific Business
Group on Health and the National Health Care Thought Leader at Mercer
Consulting and Michael Chernew, Professor, Harvard Medical School, Dept. of
Health Care Policy. Dr. Erik Steele, Vice President and Chief Medical Officer,
Eastern Maine Health Systems, will open the conference with a presentation on
why it is critical that Maine control health care cost increases.
"Our Health Care Leadership Conference Series focuses attention on the
important issues facing Maine and no issue is more important than moderating
the rising cost of health care in Maine," said Dan Corcoran, president, Anthem
Blue Cross and Blue Shield.
"The Maine Health Management Coalition is pleased to co-sponsor this
conference bringing together the purchasers and providers of health care to
seek solutions to the unsustainable increases we have seen in costs of care,"
said Doug Libby, executive director, Maine Health Management Coalition.
The half day conference will take place at the University of Southern
Maine's Abromson Community Center. The cost to attend the conference is $25.
Pre-registration is required by September 25. Participants can register online
at www.anthem.com/maine/conference .
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield's Health Care Leadership Conference
series examines critical health care issues facing Maine. A series of
conferences over the past three years has focused on wellness and preventative
strategies to improve the health of Maine people.
The October 1 conference will be of special interest to health care
providers and the Maine business community, as well as public policy makers
and the general public.
About Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield is the trade name of Anthem Health Plans
of Maine, Inc., and an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield
Association. (R)ANTHEM is a registered trademark of Anthem Insurance
Companies, Inc. The Blue Cross and Blue Shield names and symbols are
registered marks of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Additional
information about Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Maine is available at
www.anthem.com .
About MHMC
The Maine Health Management Coalition is a non-profit organization whose
over 50 members include public, private and non-profit employers, hospitals,
health plans and doctors working together to measure and report healthcare
quality and use this information to drive quality improvement. Currently,
more than 200,000 member employees and thousands of others are benefiting from
the Maine Health Management Coalition's work. For more information, visit
www.mhmc.info .
SOURCE Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield

Mark Ishkanian: +1-207-822-8454, or Tara Ryan, +1-207-774-2345, x17, both for
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield