The Mad As Hell Doctors' odyssey into the politics of health care reform ended Wednesday with a modest rally in Washington, D.C., and a resolve to continue the quest for single-payer medical coverage.

Six Oregon physicians left Portland Sept. 8 in a custom-painted Winnebago on a cross-country roadshow aimed at building support for a government-sponsored health plan that would cover all Americans in a single giant risk pool.

On Wednesday afternoon, after holding town halls in more than two dozen cities, the Mad As Hell "care-a-van" rolled into the nation's capital. An estimated 200-300 supporters joined the group for a short march capped by a rally in Lafayette Park, in front of the White House.

"We just put on quite a show," said Dr. Paul Hochfeld of Corvallis, one of the group's organizers, speaking by cell phone shortly after the rally ended around 6 p.m. Eastern time.

"There weren't a lot of people here ... but they were enthusiastic."

A highlight of the event was an appearance by Rep. Dennis Kucinich. The Ohio Democrat, a co-author of the Medicare for All bill, has continued to champion single-payer coverage even though it's been left in the dust in the furious debate over health care reform in Congress.

"He was saying what we've been saying all along," said Mike Huntington, the other Corvallis physician on the Mad As Hell Doctors tour. "It's the unfinished issue of civil rights - affordable health care for all."

Hochfeld and Huntington - along with Portland physicians Joseph Eusterman, Eugene Uphoff, Samuel Metz and Robert Seward - left Oregon with the goal of bringing single-payer back into the reform discussion.

While they now concede that's not going to happen this time around, they derided the bill being hashed out in the Capitol as a lobbyist-driven compromise that avoids meaningful change.

"It's very, very expensive and won't help many people," Huntington argued. "It will make it seem as if something useful has been passed into law when it hasn't been."

Both doctors said they were inspired during their three-week journey by the many people who stood up at rallies and stepped to the microphone to share personal stories of what they described as a failed health care system.

"The story that touched me the most - I can't remember if it was in Des Moines or Madison or Idaho Falls or where it was - was this guy who said his wife got MS and he got fired because his employer couldn't keep him on the payroll because of what it would do to (insurance) costs for the rest of his employees," Hochfeld said.

"That's tragic. And how many stories like that are there out there? I would argue there are tens of thousands."

The Mad As Hell Doctors were scheduled to meet today with Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and hold a press conference with Kucinich before heading back to their home state.

But they're not giving up the fight for single-payer health care, the two Corvallis physicians said.

While their whistlestop tour failed to mobilize the masses, they believe it strengthened networks of single-payer supporters across the country and laid the groundwork for a long-term campaign for universal, affordable medical coverage.

"However long it takes, we're going build a grassroots civil rights movement," Huntington said. "We energized ourselves for the rest of our lives with this trip."

Bennett Hall can be reached at 758-9529 or bennett.hall@lee.net.

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