Many are now painting a bleak picture for the health care reform legislation in Congress.

However, Marylanders should know that nothing has changed about the need for reform because of the Massachusetts election on Tuesday.

We still need to fix our health care system to prevent medical bankruptcy and insurers' exclusions for pre-existing conditions that affect millions of Americans. Health care reform will extend Medicaid coverage to many of the uninsured who crowd our emergency rooms. And reform will finally help us get a handle on health care costs and control the deficit.

Reform will help Maryland directly. More than 1 million Marylanders will have access to affordable insurance. Help will finally come in the form of tax subsidies to our small businesses who can't afford coverage now. Some 130,000 older adults who fall into Medicare's donut hole, will fall in no longer. And young adults will be able to stay on their parents' policies until their mid-20s.

This is not the time to give up on health care reform. The need is still there and it is growing.

Anne S. Kasper

The writer is chairwoman of the Maryland Women's Coalition for Health Care Reform.

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