The dire predictions made in your editorial "Repealing Erisa" (July 21) are already playing out in the over-governed state of Maryland, where state officials, armed with the authority found in the House of Representatives health bill, have foisted 66 separate mandates on private employers looking to provide employees with health-care insurance; that's 66 mandated benefits, whether the employee wants them or not. Employers must pay for them all-everything from hair prostheses to in-vitro fertilization to massage therapy-or provide no coverage at all. It should surprise no one, therefore, that employer-provided health-insurance plans in Maryland cost 12% more than the national average.

The lesson for Congress? Giving government bureaucrats the power to dictate benefits with little regard for cost is to invite failure-failure to either control costs or encourage the efficient delivery of health-care services.

The debate in Washington is another reminder that our current political class, in the words of the White House, is loathe to let a crisis go to waste. In this case, the folks in charge are less interested in solving a health-care crisis than loading up politically popular, taxpayer-funded giveaways. This kind of government intervention is one of the reasons our health-care system is so expensive. Enough is enough.

Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.

Annapolis, Md.

Mr. Ehrlich was governor of Maryland from 2003 to 2007.

(Note: Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. is a member of the board of directors of the Maryland Public Policy Institute)