Doctors lead ‘Care-A-Van’ for single payer to Congress (Kathlyn Stone)

Six “Mad as Hell Doctors” from Oregon embark on a cross country road trip Sept. 8 to demand Congress enact a single payer system.

Kathlyn Stone -- World News Trust

Aug. 31, 2009 -- Six physicians from Portland and Corvalis, Oregon, say they are “mad as hell” that legislators in Washington, D.C., didn’t permit a discussion of single payer as a viable option for health care reform. They’re turning their frustration into action and embarking on a road trip Sept. 8 that will make stops in 20 cities before they arrive in Washington September 30 to lobby Congress for a single-payer health care system.

The physicians are departing from Portland and travelling in a used motor home, called the “Care-A-Van.” They will speak at “Mad as Hell Town Halls” being organized by supporting groups including Physicians for a National Health Program, Health Care Now, Single Payer Action, Progressive Democrats of America and Jobs with Justice.

The doctors invite other doctors and citizens from other states to join them on their cross-country tour and at the Capitol for a demonstration for single payer on the Capitol steps on Sept. 30.

The doctors provided the following statements:

Dr. Paul Hochfeld, lead Mad As Hell Doctor and producer of the documentary Health, Money and Fear: “We’re mad as hell because our health care system is run by people who profit from illness. The rest of the civilized world has test driven single payer and it works. But elected officials in America won’t even allow a discussion.”

“The public option is a trap. It sounds very reasonable, but the problem with it, no matter what the final bill looks like, is that it will continue to allow private medical insurance companies to dictate America’s public health policies. And that’s just plain wrong.”

Dr. Mike Huntington, a radiologist from Corvallis: “People need to understand what single-payer is--and isn’t. It isn’t Socialism, any more than police and fire are Socialism. And it doesn’t require any more money. Simply put, single-payer is a way to take the current premium payments that go to a thousand different private insurance companies, and redirect them into a single, public fund that insures everyone. That’s all it is. But when we do this, lots of wonderful things happen, not the least of which is to save Americans 500 billion dollars a year starting day one. That’s billion – with a ‘b.’ America needs this information. That’s why we’re taking the tour.”

Dr. Gene Uphoff, a family physician from Portland: “We’re doing this because we care. The time to demand that a single-payer plan be put on the table is now. We may not get another opportunity for real change like this in our lifetime. Washington needs to hear all of us right now.”

The doctors plan to communicate about the tour so people can follow along on their website, and on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and MySpace.

The Mad as hell Doctors sent this letter to President Barack Obama on August 21, 2009:

Dear Mr. President:

This September, as the healthcare debate rages in Congress, our core group of six doctors from Oregon will be embarking on an historic road trip across America. We will be conducting town halls in twenty-six cities as we make our way to Washington, D.C. Our mission is to educate our fellow citizens as to why a single payer health care system is the only means to lasting, substantive health care reform for this country.

All told, our group has 191 years of combined, real-world medical experience, much of it spent working in a system that serves neither patients nor their doctors. As physicians who have sworn an oath to behave in accord with the highest possible ethical, medical standards, we have all reached the same conclusion: it is our professional obligation to speak out against a for-profit system of health care that is fatally compromising the health and well being of our patients, their families and our nation.

We will be in Washington D.C. on the morning of Oct. 1 and it would be a distinct honor if you would meet with our modest delegation to discuss the future of health care as well as the moral, social and fiscal imperative of a enacting a single-payer system for America at this moment in our history.

Dr. Paul Hochfeld, Emergency Room Physician, Corvallis

Dr. Eugene Uphoff, Family Physician, Portland

Dr. Samuel Metz, Anesthesiologist, Portland

Dr. Michael Huntington, Radiation Oncologist, Corvallis

Dr. Joseph Eusterman, Internal Medicine, Retired, Portland

Dr. Robert Seward, Internal Medicine, Portland

Mad as Hell Doctors logo

This story originally appeared on Kathlyn Stone's Flesh & Stone website

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Kathlyn Stone