The state with the most rigidly regulated hospital rates in the nation is forcing seriously ill patients to seek treatment elsewhere. One medical professional compares the effects of Maryland's mandated price structure for hospitals to "the breakdown of the Soviet Union."

For example, one cardiac patient was recently rushed from a Maryland hospital 10 minutes prior to surgery to a hospital in Washington, D.C. -- where her Maryland doctor journeyed to perform the surgery.

Analysts say Maryland's plight should constitute a cautionary tale for other states.

• Maryland prohibits hospitals from charging some paying customers more than others and sets hospital rates -- all in an attempt to force paying patients to share the cost of serving indigents and the uninsured.

• To escape the regulated rates, some Maryland hospitals -- in a state with an abundance of unfilled hospital beds and operating rooms -- are building separate, unregulated outpatient surgery centers, spending millions in the process.

• The situation is reportedly so flawed that even some regulators are calling for partial deregulation -- while critics point out the regulations shield hospitals from pressure to be more cost-effective.

• Mid-Atlantic Medical Services, Inc., a managed-care company, says Maryland's rate regulations "cause the cost of ambulatory surgery performed at hospitals to exceed the cost of having the same procedure performed at a free-standing center by as much as 100 percent."

The executive director of the Maryland Health Resources Planning Commission says that as health plans grow and consolidate and medical technology advances, the outflow of patients from Maryland's rate-regulated hospitals is bound to accelerate.