Last evening's Town Hall Meeting on Single Payer Health Care — "Medicare for All" — sponsored by Progressive Democrats of Genesee Valley and numerous other progressive groups should have been the lead story in every media outlet last night and today. I'm a nurse, not a journalist, but I can think of many stories that reporters should have been eager to capture:

1. Health care is a leading concern, with public opinion polls saying that more than eighty percent of us believe there is a need for fundamental change in the U.S system.

2. John Conyers, Jr. visited Rochester. Did anyone try to get an interview with the venerable civil rights leader, member of the U.S. House of Representatives since the 1970’s?

3. The Democrat and Chronicle is read, and TV news viewed, in several Congressional districts. Eric Massa, one of the newest members of Congress, is a vocal proponent of HR 676. The Progressive Caucus endorses the legislation, yet our own Louise Slaughter has not signed on. Why? Could it have something to do with money from health insurers and HMO’s?

4. Most importantly, the town hall meeting offered a chance for journalists to provide substantive descriptions and comparisons of the various health care reform proposals being put forward.