"The President said he is open. If someone has a better idea to let him know," said Dr. Carol Paris.
Paris said that she has tried. In front of the Senate Finance Committee, then again at a Baltimore hotel where President Obama was meeting. Both times she was arrested for civil disobedience.
"We do have an idea, it's called Medicare for all," she said.
Today, she brought that message to the Capital Region, and said that reform in Washington is moving in the wrong direction.
"I don't want to have the American people mandated to purchase a defective insurance product from the private for profit insurance industry, subsidized with taxpayer dollars," she said.
She said that a single payer system would be simpler, more effective and less expensive in the long run. Today's forum was part of the ongoing discussion.
"Even though I'm spending a lot of money, I'm still having to struggle at times for coverage. Tests that cant be done in this area, that kind of thing," said Corlis Carroll, from Albany.
"I am optimistic. You have to be. This isn't going to be won tomorrow, probably not by the time I'm a practicing physician," said Ryan McIntyre, from Albany.
The forum, some said is proof that the healthcare issue is not dead.
"There is that concern still out there for reform and how do we do it, how do we best do it," said Democratic Congressman Paul Tonko.
Not everyone agrees with today's message. Opponents of the single payer system say the option is unaffordable, and would allow too much governmental control.
