SOUTH PORTLAND - The cost of health care and health insurance in Maine will be the focus of a statewide conference on Wednesday, Oct. 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 health care and health insurance.

The conference will feature keynote speeches by two national experts: Dr. Arnie Milstein, medical director for the Pacific Business Group on Health, will examine innovative approaches to moderate health care costs; Michael Chernew, professor at Harvard Medical School, will address ways that health insurance can be designed to get the best value from the policies.

A Maine-based speaker, Dr. Erik Steele, vice president at Eastern Maine Health Systems, will open the conference with a presentation on why it is critical that Maine control health care cost increases.

More than 200 people have already registered for the conference from the business and health care provider community. Registration and conference information is available online at www.anthem.com/maine/conference. Registration closes Sept. 26. The cost to attend the conference is $25.

The morning conference will take place at the University of Southern Maine's Abromson Community Center.