By Glen Johnson, Globe Staff

Speaking to both state and national audiences, Governor Deval Patrick today defended the idea of government promoting near universal health care, even as he called on lawmakers, health care providers, and the business community to work jointly on controlling its cost. Patrick said he will only support final legislation that controls spending, provides flexibility in how to achieve it, “accountability” for failing to do so, and makes changes to the state’s tort laws.

By Chelsea Conaboy, Globe Staff

Countries up and down the global economic ladder are pushing toward universal health care for their citizens even as the United States considers pulling back on its efforts to provide coverage for more people, Noam N. Levey of the Los Angeles Times reported in a fascinating story over the weekend.

By Chelsea Conaboy, Globe Staff

Three Boston organizations will receive $11.6 million from the federal government to expand programs focused on keeping sick seniors out of the hospital, improving the health of children with asthma, and connecting people who are homeless with better medical care. The grants announced Tuesday by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services are among $123 million awarded under the Affordable Care Act to programs aimed at improving health care quality and lowering costs.

By Chelsea Conaboy, Globe Staff

The number of people who received inpatient treatment for drug and alcohol abuse at state-contracted facilities in Massachusetts has remained nearly unchanged since 2006, despite the expansion of insurance coverage under the state law passed that year. A Health Affairs study published Monday said the results here could serve as a warning to other states that expansion of insurance under the federal law that requires most Americans to have coverage starting in 2014, will not be enough to provide people with the care they need.