WASHINGTON - Medicare wants to start changing how it pays for the treatment of life-threatening conditions.

The goal is to promote quality and contain costs by encouraging doctors, hospitals and rehab centers to coordinate care.

Ninety-eight metro areas will be involved in a cardiac care experiment, and 67 in a hip surgery test.

It's part of a big push under the Obama administration to reinvent Medicare, steering away from paying for services regardless of quality and cost.