As lawmakers bicker over insurance co-ops and the "public option," a small group of Oregon physicians have decided to try heroic measures to revive the all-but-defunct darling of hardcore health care reformers: single-payer medical coverage.

Calling themselves the Mad As Hell Doctors, the group plans to launch a cross-country road trip next week to promote the idea of a universal government insurance plan that would cover all Americans in one giant risk pool. Single-payer advocates argue this approach would lower costs by taking profit-driven insurance companies out of the health care equation.

"What I'm mad about is not health care," said Paul Hochfeld, the Corvallis emergency room physician who heads the delegation. "What I'm mad about is the way our political process is being manipulated by the industry."

The way Hochfeld sees it, heavy campaign contributions and intensive lobbying by insurance carriers, pharmaceutical companies, medical device makers, hospitals and the American Medical Association have taken single-payer off the table in the reform debate in Washington.

"I think it was probably a handshake with the administration and the health care industry that it would not be on the table because it represents such a threat to the industry," said Mike Huntington, a retired radiation oncologist from Corvallis who's joining Hochfeld on the trip. "What (reform) will do instead is mandate that we buy a faulty product, which is health insurance."

On Tuesday, just as Congress returns from its summer recess, Hochfeld and Huntington will board a custom-painted RV with Portland-area physicians Joseph Eusterman, Eugene Uphoff, Samuel Metz and Robert Seward for a three-week "care-a-van" to Washington, D.C., to deliver the message that single-payer is not dead.

The tour will kick off with a 10 a.m. rally in downtown Portland's Pioneer Courthouse Square.

Afterwards, the Mad As Hell Doctors will hit the road with several support vehicles for an afternoon appearance in Seattle, followed by dates in two dozen other cities before arriving Sept. 30 in Washington. By then, the group hopes to have attracted large numbers of supporters for a mass single-payer rally on Oct. 1.

To make sure their message gets heard, the docs have invested $15,000 to secure the services of a couple of Oregon-based public relations pros: Gary Jelinek, the campaign manager for Dennis Kucinich's 2004 presidential bid, and media consultant Adam Klugman.

Klugman has created a sophisticated Web site (www.madashelldoctors.com) while Jelinek acts as the advance man, coordinating with support committees along the route, lining up town hall venues and soliciting media coverage.

It was Jelinek who came up with the germ of the idea after running into Eusterman at a private gathering of reform-minded Tigard residents in June. Both men gave presentations on single-payer health care.

"It just struck me that the best-positioned people to talk about health care reform would be doctors," Jelinek said. "They're between the patients and the insurance companies."

The Mad As Hell Doctors are getting moral support from several national organizations, including Physicians for a National Health Program, Health Care Now and Single Payer Action, but they're looking for financial support as well.

They estimate their campaign will cost about $60,000 when all is said and done. So far they've raised about $22,000, enough to cover their consultants' fees and the $7,000 they shelled out for their motorhome, a 27-foot 1986 Winnebago nicknamed Winnie.

To keep the media buzz going, the doctors plan to blog from the road and post daily video updates to Web sites such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

Klugman, an advertising industry veteran, coined the name Mad As Hell Doctors, a moniker the Oregon physicians rejected at first.

"When we heard it we said, 'Nah, not us, we're not that mad,'" Huntington said. "Then we realized we really are."

Of course, lots of Americans are angry about health care, but they're angry for different reasons.

While one segment of the population wants to replace private insurance with a single-payer system, a much more visible demographic is staunchly opposed to any expansion of government's role in health care, making headlines by disrupting congressional town halls across the country.

Huntington says he understands the rage these people are feeling.

"People don't understand what's going on," he said. "They know it's going to cost a lot of money, and there's no proof it's going to do anything to help the health care system."

What the Mad As Hell Doctors hope to do, Huntington said, is to educate citizens on the problems with the current health care system and bring the single-payer option back into the reform discussion.

"There's a difference between anger and rage. Rage is destructive, and anger can be channeled for constructive use. That's what we're trying to do here."

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

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