Christopher Summers, President of the Maryland Public Policy Institute, published an op-ed in the Baltimore Examiner last week detailing why a health care proposal by Maryland Senator Ben Cardin was flawed. Senator Cardin wants to impose a national health insurance mandate coupled with an expansion of government health care programs.

As Summers pointed out: "The main problem with Cardin’s bill is its major increase of the Internal Revenue Service’s autonomy over every American. Instead of merely collecting taxes, the IRS under the Cardin proposal would also monitor our health insurance status. This oversight would be quite intrusive, since the bill requires the agency levy a punitive tax on anyone who goes without health insurance for longer than 60 days."

Instead, Summers recommends less government intrusion on Americans' health care choices: "If Cardin truly wants to help those without health insurance obtain it, there are better steps to take. For example, he should support legislation that would let consumers purchase health insurance in another state. Right now, there is no true interstate commerce in health insurance. That situation has led to a situation in Maryland where two health insurance companies supply over 90 percent of small business and individual insurance policies.

"Cardin could also support legislation to ensure that individuals receive the same tax break as businesses do when they purchase their own health insurance. There is no reason the government should favor employer-based insurance over individually-purchased insurance."

Of course, I'm not going to hold my breath that Cardin follows this advice.