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

Two pieces on the Globe’s opinion pages take different stances on the bills now under consideration by the House and Senate for controlling health care costs in the state. Dr. Don Berwick argues that the more aggressive House bill, or a bolder plan, is appropriate. A Globe editorial argues against imposing on a market already working to lower costs.

By Chelsea Conaboy , Globe Staff

Small employers increasingly are offering employees health insurance plans that require them to pay more for tests, treatments, and doctor visits. An analysis by the Division of Health Care Finance and Policy found that 27 percent of people who got their insurance through the small group market at the end of 2010 were in a plan with a lower “actuarial value,” meaning they had higher deductibles and copayments. That’s up from just 2 percent in the first quarter of 2008.

By Chelsea Conaboy, Globe Staff

Now that both the House and Senate have released their plans for reining in health care costs -- the former with stronger regulatory controls and the latter encouraging hospitals and doctors to continue efforts to cut costs themselves -- consumer advocates and interest groups are taking sides, staking out their own ground or mulling over their options. Here’s a look at some of the official statements that have rolled in.

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.

By Chelsea Conaboy, Globe Staff

The debate over the next stage of the state’s health care overhaul is in full swing now, reflected on the pages of the Boston Globe in more ways than one. Last week the paper covered a House proposal to cut the growth rate of health care costs in the state by about half. Today in the Metro section, Partners HealthCare ran a full-page advertisement touting the efforts it has taken in the past year to control health care costs.

By Liz Kowalczyk, Globe Staff

Massachusetts House leaders released a major proposal to control health care costs Friday, saying their plan would save families thousands of dollars over the next five years. The bill would require the medical industry to cut the rate of growth of health spending in half, to about 3.7

percent, mirroring the overall growth in the Massachusetts economy. The legislation also takes aim at the extreme variation in prices that hospitals charge insurers and government payers for similar services.

By Liz Kowalczyk, Globe Staff

Legislative leaders said Thursday that they will release comprehensive plans to control health care costs in Massachusetts within the next week. The House has scheduled a press conference Friday afternoon at 2:30, during which House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Representative Steven Walsh, a Lynn Democrat who co-chairs the Health Care Financing Committee, will discuss details of the House proposal. The Senate plans to release its cost-control plan on Wednesday.