To the editor:

An evening with U.S. Rep. John Conyers on March 20 in Northampton High School auditorium brought a packed house and hope to many of us in the Pioneer Valley. He is the author of the bill to establish a national system of universal single-payer health care, HR 676.

Early in the evening he met with about 20 local activists who have been working for single-payer health care. Conyers said he has asked to be on the committee drafting health care legislation, and he is confident that will happen. If true, that would give single-payer supporters a voice. He praised U.S. Rep. John Olver, who was also in attendance later in the evening, as a strong advocate for single-payer health care. The evening featured Conyers as part of a discussion about single-payer health care before an enthusiastic audience which packed the auditorium. "We will get single-payer health care sooner or later, hopefully sooner," he said.

Conyers discussed the health care reform battle that lies ahead and why HR 676, the National Healthcare Act or the Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act, is the best solution for Americans.

John Nichols, the Washington correspondent for The Nation, used his impressive knowledge of history and the subject in his role as moderator of an insightful and inspired discussion.

Robert Pollin, UMass economist, reminded the audience of the huge deficits under Ronald Reagan. He said that with a single-payer health plan we could bring the deficit down to what it was then. He said the money going to AIG is much less than we pay for the extra cost of health care administration.

Jackie Wolf, Amherst co-chair of MASS-CARE, elucidated the problems of the health care reform law of 2006 in Massachusetts, citing problems of runaway costs and lack of affordability for all but the lowest-income residents. Nevertheless, the Massachusetts Plan is a favored model for national reform. Donna Smith, co-chair of Healthcare Not Warfare, who testified to Congress on the impacts of our current failed system, described that experience and her current work as an advocate for HR 676 on Capitol Hill.

Northampton Mayor Claire Higgins described the effects of spiraling health care costs on city budgets.

Conyers and the evening gave us hope that we might actually see single-payer health care happen in our lifetimes.

Alice Swift

Amherst