(St. Mary's City, MD) Sept. 14, 2009 -Everyone - from Congress to drug and insurance companies to providers and patients - has an opinion on health care reform. St. Mary's College of Maryland (SMCM) will bring together a panel of policy experts to offer their take on the heated debate and answer community questions. "Beyond the Shouts: A Discussion of Health Reform in America" will begin at 6 p.m. Monday, September 28, 2009, at Daugherty-Palmer Commons on the college campus. "At some point, we need to stop shouting and start talking, start listening," said Todd Eberly, assistant political science professor and coordinator of Public Policy Studies. "Health reform will affect every American; we all have a stake in this debate." The public is encouraged to attend. For information, contact Eberly at 240-895-4391 or teeberly@smcm.edu.

 Included on the panel is:

- Health care financing expert Greg Scandlen, founder of Consumers for Health Care Choices, who will discussreform based on enhancing individual choice. Scandlen testifies frequently before Congress and appears often on the evening television news, CNN, and The O'Reilly Factor.

- Pediatrician Margaret Flowers, Congressional Fellow of Physicians for a National Health Program, who will make the case for a single-payer system and has been arrested publicizing those views. She has practiced at a rural hospital and in private practice.

- Karen Davenport, director of the Center for American Progress, who has been invited to make the case for the President's proposal. She developed and managed national programs dedicated to increasing health insurance coverage and improving long-term care financing and services for frail elders and people with disabilities.

- And Eberly, who will serve as moderator. Dr. Eberly spent 10 years as a health policy professional before joining the faculty of St. Mary's College. He has advised health reformefforts in Maryland and Rhode Island, and presented research on health reform atstate and national conferences.

Said Eberly, "In his speech to Congress, President Obama acknowledged that many on the left want to create a single-payer system like Canada's, where the government provides coverage for everyone. While on the right, there are those who argue that we need to empower individuals to buy health insurance on their own. The President rejected both as representing too radical a shift, I think that warrants more discussion."

St. Mary's College of Maryland, designated the Maryland state honors college in 1992, is ranked one of the best liberal arts schools in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, Kiplinger's, and The Princeton Review. Founded in 1840 as Maryland's "monument school" commemorating the state's first capital, SMCM is the state's only public honors college, offering "an Ivy-level College with a public-school price tag" (Newsweek).

Some 2,000 students attend the college, which has the highest graduation rate for all Maryland public colleges and universities, and an SAT average for student admissions of 1848. The school's waterfront campus along the St. Mary's River in Southern Maryland is home to the 2009 National Intercollegiate Sailing Association Co-ed champions.