Maryland Chamber of Commerce President Kathleen Snyder replied to yesterday's column, which portrayed the chamber and other business interests as out to lunch when it comes to fighting against soaring Maryland health costs.

Jay Hancock's recent column ("Maryland business a no-show in fight over the cost of health care," Feb. 22) did not fully describe the efforts of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce and employers in our state to slow the rise of health insurance costs. We have, in fact, already taken positions on 16 health care bills before the Maryland General Assembly and are reviewing more. Our positions are based on our 800 members' needs and interests and determined through rigorous committee processes. With 70 percent of our members having fewer than 100 employees, we are indeed a diverse business organization with a strong track record of success in Annapolis.

Read her whole letter here.

I have only one thing to say in my defense, but it is sufficient: The Maryland Chamber's members include Johns Hopkins Health Systerm, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, Patient First and MedStar Health. If you think that with these and many other denizens of the medical-industrial complex as its members the chamber is really an advocate for health-care cost containment, you also think that American Petroleum Institute is fighting hard to prevent climate change.