Health care reform remains a top Maryland Chamber priority. A passage from this health care story in today's Daily Record caught my attention:

"But in reality, the Massachusetts plan leaves a number of important questions unanswered. Observers will not know how the plan works until Massachusetts regulators hammer out the fine details, and until then, lawmakers and advocates in Maryland seem content to continue down the path they’ve already begun."

Continuing "down the path they've already begun" is a bad idea. Current state laws have produced a health insurance system that offers limited competition, little choice for employers and employees and escalating costs. Recent legislation enacted by the General Assembly (Wal-Mart Bill) continues to head in the wrong direction, with more employer mandates and more mandated health benefits that add to the cost of health insurance.

Get involved with the Maryland Chamber's Health Care Committee if you want to help us craft our health care reform agenda for the 2007 General Assembly Session. The health care debate is sure to heat up this winter, when the Joint Legislative Task Force on Universal Access to Quality and Affordable Health Care is set to release its findings and recommendations. The business community must be ready with some recommendations of its own. Get involved today. Contact Ron Wineholt at rwineholt@mdchamber.org.