There has been a lot of talk about medical freedom lately. We’ve seen protests against masking at schools, demonstrations against vaccine mandates at state capitols and truck convoys to D.C. demanding freedom to make our own decisions. I would challenge these demonstrators, and the rest of us, to look critically at the profit-driven health care industry and the actual freedom we would gain by replacing it with a universal, single-payer system.

Our current model shackles us in so many ways. We are unable to choose any provider, told that some are “out of network.” We let the insurance companies tell us what treatment we can or cannot have instead of those decisions being made by us and our doctor, as they should be. We cannot move, change jobs or start a business because we would lose our insurance. We skip getting care we need because the deductible is too high. There are millions with no insurance at all. And heaven forbid we actually get sick because for many, even the insured, medical bankruptcy follows.

We deserve better, and it’s the insurance industry, hospitals and pharmaceutical corporations that are blocking our freedom. Health Care for All Oregon and other groups are working to challenge this corporate greed. Join our movement!

Rachael Atchison, Salem