WASHINGTON - Hundreds of doctors took their health care fight to Capitol Hill Thursday. They deal with patients and insurance companies every day and now they want their voices heard.

They called it the "Million Med March" but admit they didn't have that many doctors on Capitol Hill. In fact, doctors point out fewer than one million doctors practice nationwide.

But those who did march on the Capitol say even fewer will go into medicine if Congress allows the government to take over health care.

After nearly three decades of delivering babies, Dr. Joel Match no longer does so. With malpractice premiums sky-rocketing, he now has this message for his gynecology patients:

"I'd love to deliver your child but unfortunately I can't do that anymore because the insurance premiums have gotten high so I have to refer you to a large group," he said.

With problems including malpractice fees and reimbursement rates, doctors from across the country gathered in Washington Thursday to protest current proposals on Capitol Hill.

"I'm here to tell everyone if you're not listening to the American people, try listening to the doctors of America because we're here to tell you this is a disaster," said Dr. Colin Blake, a Massachusetts resident.

The doctors say malpractice fees and insurance reimbursement need fixing -- but that they strongly oppose too much government interference in health care decisions and coverage.

"We're saying we'd rather have the patient be the first payer because they'll be the ones to decide what they want and need and every time that gets interfered with it's a mess," said Dr. Eric Steckler, a McLean psychiatrist.

Match says fix the system so doctors can focus on what they do best -- like delivering babies.

Now doctors are joining forces, saying saving lives is far too complicated for Congress to fix in one fell swoop.

President Obama has told doctors he agrees more needs to be done to fix malpractice. But when the doctors object to a larger government role, their critics say they're dead wrong -- arguing there isn't enough financial incentive for doctors to care for the uninsured and the underinsured without a much bigger government role.

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