Serious Implications

This week eight people, including three physicians, supporters of a single payer health plan, were arrested at the Baucus Finance committee hearings.

Update: Ed Schultz interviews Dr. Margaret Flowers, M.D.

I expect the day will come when health care is a right of all Americans, regardless of ability to pay, when health care is administered by those who care for people and are willing to do so for a good living, but who are not in the field to become millionaires. It will likely happen after a long, bitter struggle, like the struggle to end segregation. When it’s over, history may compare Senator Max Baucus to former Arkansas governor Orval Faubus, who blocked nine black kids, later known as the “Little Rock Nine” from entering an all white high school.

The following is an exerpt of a letter written by a doctor arested at Baucus’s committee hearings this past week. The letter in its entirety is available at Physicians for a National Health Program

Why we risked arrest for single-payer health care

By Margaret Flowers, M.D.

On May 5, eight health care advocates, including myself and two other physicians, stood up to Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and the Senate Finance Committee during a “public roundtable discussion” with a simple question: Will you allow an advocate for a single-payer national health plan to have a seat at the table?

The answer was a loud, “Get more police!” And we were arrested and hauled off to jail.

The fact that a national health insurance program is supported by the majority of the public, doctors and nurses apparently means nothing to Sen. Baucus. The fact that thousands of people in America are dying every year because they can’t get health care means nothing. The fact that over 1 million Americans go into bankruptcy every year due to medical debt — even though most of them had insurance when they got sick — means nothing.

And so, as the May 5 meeting approached, we prepared for another one of the highly scripted, well-protected events that are supposed to make up the “health care debate” using standard tools of advocacy. We organized call-in days and faxes to the members of the committee requesting the presence of one single-payer advocate at the table of 15. Despite thousands of calls and faxes, the only reply — received on the day before the event — was, “Sorry, but no more invitations will be issued.”

We knew that this couldn’t be correct. We had heard Sen. Baucus say on that very same day that “all options were on the table.” And so, the next day, we donned our suits and traveled to Washington. We had many knowledgeable single-payer advocates in our group. And as the meeting started, one of us, Mr. Russell Mokhiber, stood up to say that we were here and we were ready to take a seat. And he was promptly removed from the room.

In that moment, it all became so clear. We could write letters, phone staffers, and fax until the machines fell apart, but we would never get our seat at the table.

I’ve written to my two senators, Levin and Stabenow, asking them to tell Baucus to open up the hearings. I hope others will do likewise. There’s a “contact congress” widget in the sidebar.

I thank Dr. Flowers and her seven colleagues for their sacrifice and service to our country.