Doctors ‘Mad as Hell’ about health care

A group of eight West Coast doctors spoke out at a rally Saturday to tell Bloomington residents why they are “Mad as Hell” and to show support for a single-payer health care system.

The Mad as Hell doctors have held similar rallies in 15 other cities across the country. They plan to stop in nine more on their way to Washington, where they hope to meet with Congress and the president.

They parked their RV, “Winnie,” at Bloomington’s Farmer’s Market  and began speaking after the market closed at noon.

The speakers advocated a single-payer system, which they defined as “a system of payment that redirects all current health care monies, both public and private, into a single public fund that covers everyone.”

The doctors sought to dispel the notion that a single-payer system is a radical solution. They denied the labels opponents use to describe the position, such as “socialized medicine” and “government takeover”.

“The fiscally responsible thing for us to do is for us to have a single-payer system because it’s the only way we’re ever going to afford the moral imperative of universal access without breaking the bank,” said Dr. Paul Hochfeld, an emergency room physician from Oregon.

Dr. Marc Sapir, a primary care physician from the Bay Area, who practiced medicine for 38 years, said he was “mad as hell” because of the inefficiency in America’s health care spending.

“After 38 years of practice, I hear that we’re 37th in the care that we provide to our patients and to our population,” Sapir said. “And behind that we’re spending twice as much as the next most expensive system in the world, and besides that we’re spending more tax dollars than any country in the world that has a totally tax-funded system of care.”

The doctors mentioned a new Harvard study published in the American Journal of Public Health, which found that 45,000 people die each year in America from lack of health care.

This number is higher than the previous estimate of 18,000.

Oregon family physician Eugene Uphoff said he was “mad as hell” because the amount of money insurance companies are spending to defeat health care reform is enough to cover those 45,000 people three times over.

Finally, the doctors invited participants to share why they were “mad as hell.”

Bloomington resident Deb Owens said she was “mad as hell” because she was denied coverage due to her recently developed high blood pressure. Owens tried to purchase private health insurance but was denied.

Owens now pays about $89 a month — about $3 per pill – for blood pressure medication.

“It’s crippling, especially in this economy,” Owens said.

“I’m mad as hell because I have an 18-year-old daughter who has a disability, who has the option in life of always being poor so that she can qualify for Medicaid,” said Cindy Calley, a Carmel, Ind. resident.

When asked why she drove from Carmel to attend the rally, Calley said, “Because this is the most important domestic issue in the country. Why didn’t everybody?”