Baltimore Sun - Reform, not overreach.

Reform, not overreach
Changes such as market-based 'exchanges' can improve our health system without upending it

By Andy Harris October 6, 2009

If there is any message that has come from this summer's town hall meetings throughout the country, it is that the American public is unhappy with how health care reform is being approached by Congress. As the only physician in the Maryland Senate, I know how legislatures approach health care issues. Politicians are usually tone-deaf to those who know the most about the issue - patients and their health care providers.

We all want reform - but not the over-reaching measures promoted in the current bills. We have to strengthen and broaden individual decision-making. Serious efforts to bring down the cost to families while preserving patient choice should include several elements.