STRONGSVILLE, Ohio - With a fresh sense of urgency, President Barack Obama sought to reassure seniors Monday about health care legislation approaching a final vote in Congress, pledging it would make preventive care cost-free and close a gap in Medicare prescription drug coverage."This proposal adds almost a decade of solvency to Medicare," Obama said in a visit to a senior center.Obama's trip to Ohio marked his third out-of-town foray as he tries to build support for long-stalled legislation to remake the health care system.

Read more: Obama seeks to reassure seniors on health care

WATERBURY, Conn. - Rising property taxes, failing eyesight and even a tumble that cracked her tailbone haven't forced 89-year-old Angeline DiBeneditto from the home she's had for more than six decades.Now, though, changes in a Connecticut program that helps her and others live independently could push her toward a nursing home after all if she can't scrounge at least $180 more from her monthly budget.DiBeneditto, who's lived on the same block for 87 of her 89 years, said that if it appears she'll need to move to a nursing home rather than continue living independently, "I would ask the dear Lord to go ahead and take me."

Read more: Seniors pinched by new charges for home care help

Mar. 6--As many as 24,000 North Carolina Medicare recipients may be affected by the suspension of a New York-based drug plan. Federal Medicare regulators have ordered Fox Insurance Co. to suspend enrollments and marketing for its Medicare Part D drug plan because the company was not providing drugs to customers quickly, according to the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The company, without permission from Medicare, was pushing patients to use cheaper drugs than those prescribed by doctors.

Read more: Medicare ruling on drug plan may hit 24,000

U.S. patients are finding it difficult to get health services under Medicaid as more doctors drop out of the program over inadequate payments, observers say.Doctors say reimbursements from Medicaid are so low -- as little as $25 per office visit -- they are losing money on every patient, The New York Times reported Tuesday.While enrollments in the program are increasing -- 3.3 million people were added last year -- a nationwide trend of state cuts to Medicaid leaves many patients unable to find doctors or dentists who will treat them, the Times said.

Read more: Doctors dropping out of Medicaid

President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats are pulling together a final version of a health care overhaul bill and pushing for House votes as early as next week. INSURANCE MANDATE: Like the bills approved last year by the House and Senate, the proposal would require almost everyone to be insured or pay a fine. MEDICAID: The legislation would expand the federal-state Medicaid insurance program for the poor to cover people with incomes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level, $29,327 a year for a family of four.

Read more: A look at Democrats' health care overhaul

Mar. 16--Being a small-business owner in this economic climate isn't easy. It got tougher a couple of months ago for small pharmacies in Ohio when the state cut in half what it reimburses them to dispense prescriptions to Medicaid patients. The cut puts Ohio near the bottom among states based on what Medicaid pays pharmacies.

Read more: Smaller pharmacies protest cut in Medicaid: State slices in half fee it pays for each prescription filled

Mar. 16--What a difference four months can make. In early November, U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello, D-Belleville, cast one of the crucial votes that allowed historic health care legislation to squeak by in the House 220-215. But over the weekend, and with only a few days before a watered-down version of the health-care package again goes before the House, Costello revealed that he now opposes the measure in its current form.

Read more: Costello opposes health bill

A U.S. non-profit group on aging has produced materials that explain to seniors how they would be affected by healthcare reform.Officials of the National Council on Aging in Washington say the healthcare reform debate has exposed older adults to a barrage of political spin and scare tactics, leaving many confused and worried about the future of Medicare.Straight Talk for Seniors explains the health reform plan and what it would mean for Medicare, and helps seniors weigh the pros and cons so they can make up their own minds, the organization said.

Read more: Fact sheet on healthcare reform offered

Mar. 16--Beginning April 1, the 128,000 Medicaid enrollees in the UPMC for You health plan will be charged co-payments ranging from $1 to $3 for hospital stays, doctor visits and X-rays. The move puts UPMC for You, affiliated with the UPMC Health Plan, in alignment with Highmark and other insurers that already are charging similar co-pays. The maximum amounts are set at the federal level.

Read more: UPMC for You moves ahead with plans for co-payments for Medicaid patients

Mar. 16--Between a stubborn recession and a still-uncertain course for health reform, running a healthcare organization these days calls for nerve, patience and perhaps a little therapy. The Post-Gazette's annual listing of revenue figures for major local healthcare organizations -- 10 of the top 13 are in the hospital business, with insurer Highmark and its nearly 3 million Western Pennsylvania subscribers at the top -- shows that most of them reported revenue numbers that are holding steady or doing slightly better than a year ago. A.J. Harper, president of the Hospital Council of Western Pennsylvania, noted that a bad economy means more lost jobs, which means more people seeking treatment without traditional employer-based health insurance coverage.

Read more: Prognosis is uncertain for health organizations